Cracked Shield
by Natasha Vera
Summary: A shield cannot be trusted once its been broken, but for the Agents of SHIELD team they have no choice. Limping towards the reputation they once had, Director Phil Coulson has to make a tough decision in letting a woman with a lengthy dark family history into his tight circle of agents. What he doesn't realize is that there is another, darker threat already lurking among them...
1. Chapter 1

_This is the beginning of my fan fiction series. Have fun!_

Chapter 1: Strategic

_Beginning_

_The moon drops one or two feathers into the field. _

_The dark wheat listens._

_Be still._

_Now._

_There they are, the moon's young, trying_

_Their wings._

_Between trees, a slender woman lifts up the lovely shadow_

_Of her face, and now she steps into the air, now she is gone_

_Wholly, into the air._

_I stand alone by an elder tree, I do not dare breathe_

_Or move._

_I listen._

_The wheat leans back toward its own darkness,_

_And I lean toward mine._

_-James Wright_

Skye stretched as she made her way through The Bus, trying to flex her muscles from the usual soreness accompanied with a night of flying through a thunder storm. "Morning, Skye." Fitz yawned, stepping out of his room. "You'd think Thor was about last night."

Skye smiled and dropped her arms. "You'd think our new friends at NASA would've hooked us up with seatbelts for our beds."

"Tell me about it." He exhaled, his face freezing like it usually did when he was nervous. "What do you think they want from us?"

"Well, Coulson seemed pretty optimistic."

"We could use some optimistic." Triplett told them, exhaling with a cup of coffee in hand. "I'm tired of being shot at."

"Join the club." Skye tilted her head, longing for a cup of coffee. "Any ideas of what NASA could want?"

"Nah, but I'm sure it's big." He sipped his coffee. "Why else would they want the world's rejects?"

"Hey, we're not rejects!" Fitz ground his face. "We might be homeless, but at least we're coming together."

"Yeah, but NASA's just as big as SHIELD used to be." Triplett told him, gesturing with his cup. "They wouldn't want spies and specialists around if they didn't want to get their hands dirty."

"Well, we're not going to find out from here." Skye interjected, watching Fitz fight for the last word. "Let's go find out what the space cadets want."

They walked down the hall like cattle after a large feed. Fitz wore a brown sweater vest and blue long sleeve shirt to match nicely pressed blue trousers, his shoes closed toe and comfortable for this engineer. Skye let her hair loose and wavy about her shoulders, her favorite hairstyle. She wore a loose purple shirt with a black vest jacket, tight jeans, and black shoes. Her wrists wore two bracelets each and her black nail polish was pushed back against the nail from using keyboards for hours on end. At last, Triplett followed with a black and grey shirt that clung close to his body, cargo trousers, and boots laced tightly in case of a fight.

As they entered the conference room, Skye detoured to the bar where she promptly took a paper cup and the coffee pot, pouring herself magical wake-up juice. "Morning!" Simmons smiled, coming from the direction of the lab and pulling off black gloves. She wore her hair back in a long ponytail and her white lab coat. Beneath that coat was a long sleeved green shirt printed with white flowers and khaki trousers, along with closed toe "lab designated" black shoes.

Each person issued a less-than-enthusiastic, "Good morning."

"Don't you all sound cheery." Coulson smirked, entering the conference room in his usual pristine suit and tie. "Well, I'm sure you've all been wondering what's been going on with NASA."

"That's putting it nicely." Triplett scoffed, drinking more coffee.

Colson tilted his head, "Right. Since SHIELD is no longer the organization that it used to be, we are scrambling to find who we can for funds to put us back in business. One of those organizations is NASA."

"So we're NASA's errand boys?" Skye asked, joining the conference table.

"In a nutshell." Coulson told her. "Every time we get something for them that they otherwise wouldn't, they contribute to our reputation."

"They pay SHIELD to be spies?" Triplett asked, narrowing his gaze.

"Yes. We need money for our missions and to put our organization back on the map. Thankfully, most of the agents that were stationed at NASA during the good old days weren't Hydra, so that's a big plus."

"Yay!" Skye sipped and gave a thumbs up. "So something should be normal."

"Yes, if you accept that we'll be getting our orders from NASA as well as SHEILD."

"So, we're getting orders from NASA as well as from you?" Fitz asked.

"I'm in." Skye told him. "If it keeps us in business."

"Same here." Simmons added.

"Me too." Fitz replied, looking to Simmons.

"Hell, I'm in." Triplett exhaled, crossing his arms. "So what's our first errand?"

Coulson smiled and stood taller. "Memphis, Egypt. We have an 084."

"Remind me again what an 084 is?" Triplett asked, tossing another magazine into his weapons case.

"An 084 is an unknown substance." Skye told him, tying her hair back and grabbing her backpack of electronics. "It's basically something abnormal that no one knows what it is and we have to go and find it and figure it out."

"So we have no idea what this thing is?"

"Not a clue." May told him, walking into the room. "Expect anything from an Egyptian relic to something Asgardian that explodes."

"Egyptian relics can't explode?"

May shot him a look. "Be ready for anything."

Triplett turned back to Skye. "I'm gonna need a bigger case."

She laughed, then slung her backpack over her shoulder and followed Fitz and Simmons as they argued over a particular device NASA had given them. "Look at this!" Fitz pointed, "I have done better in my first year at the Academy than this!"

"We're not SHIELD with the funds and comfy laboratories anymore, Fitz!" Simmons told him. "This is the best we have to work with!"

"If we didn't have to go right now I could upgrade it within an hour!"

Skye shook her head and followed them into the black Suburban with the SHIELD seal spray painted off. May waited for all members of the team to be buckled up and doors shut before starting the car. "This feels good." Coulson smiled, looking at her from the passenger seat. "Feels like we belong somewhere."

He caught the slightest glimpse of a smile before she put the car into gear and reversed them onto the shifting sands of the Sahara.

Skye watched as rolling sand dune after rolling sand dune passed them by, an occasional camel appearing every few miles. "I always thought Egypt was a magical place." She sighed. "I didn't realize how much desert there was."

Simmons turned and smiled. "In ancient Egypt, the palaces were like beacons against the dry sand. They could be seen for miles around."

"And, there could be magic in one of these temples." Fitz added, also turning to Skye. "Now that we know it's possible."

"Magic is just science that we don't understand, Fitz." Simmons faced forward.

"It'd be cool to see if the Book of the Dead was really something magical."

"I'm not too thrilled about mummies coming back from the dead." Triplett told them, staring out his window. "I saw those movies."

Simmons opened her mouth to retort but Fitz cut her off. "We're close!"

"How close?" Coulson asked, turning around to look at him.

"We're… about fifteen minutes away."

"Coulson." May called, forcing him to tear his gaze away and look forward.

They were driving into an archaeological dig site.

On both sides, long shirted diggers, and short sleeved and jeaned archaeologists moved about like ants at a sugar mound. "This is going to be fun." Coulson exhaled. "How close Fitz?"

"We're probably going to have to get out and walk." Fitz told him, eyes glued to his device. "It looks like its in a tomb, or tent, or something."

"What do you mean by something?" Triplett asked, leaning over the back of Fitz's seat.

"I'm getting a lot of interference." He scooted forward, acting like he was trying to get better reception. "The 084 probably hasn't been dug up yet."

May rolled down her window and talked quickly with a digger in Arabic. He didn't seem too pleased that they were driving through a sacred dig site, but pointed them in a direction where they could park. "We're going to have to walk." May told them.

"How far?" Skye asked peering over Triplett's shoulder.

May turned the steering wheel. "It's going to be a hike."

A mile away, she parked. "Take water." Coulson commanded, removing his seatbelt. "I don't want anyone fainting from the heat."

There was a scramble to get bags and water bottles, followed by a nearly silent descent from the car, (Fitz and Simmons were arguing about which other devices to take and which would melt in the car or their backpacks).

"Lead the way, Fitz." Coulson commanded, beads of sweat already forming on his forehead.

Fitz stared at his monitor, then started to move his legs to the right. Triplett rushed to his shoulders in time to stop him from running into a tractor. "You lead and I'll tell you when to go or not go."

Fitz shot him a repulsed look, but stayed silent and continued on. Skye looked around the desert dig site, watching as people caked in dust and mud soldiered through the scorching heat, trying to piece together the remnants of a lost civilization. The sun was unrelenting, causing sweat to fight its way through the forest of Skye's hair to her neck, absorbing in her collar. By the time they made it to the main dig sight, each person had drunk up to half their water bottles.

"Are we almost there yet, Fitz?" Coulson asked, tugging at his tie. "It feels like we stepped into a sauna."

"Almost there." Fitz called over his shoulder, sweat pouring down his sides.

"How hot is it?" Simmons complained, wiping her forehead with a handkerchief.

"I'd say about one hundred ten degrees." May commented. "Not including ground temperature."

Skye lifted her hair, trying to take advantage of a slight breeze. "No wonder Ancient Egyptians are half naked in their drawings." She looked around at everyone in their long sleeves and sweaters, watching them sweat more than her.

"I don't know about you guys," Coulson exhaled, unbuttoning his top button. "But I'm first in a cold shower after this." He turned to May. "How about you?"

"I'm in the cockpit by myself." She told him. "No one complains about my smell."

"It's around here, guys!" Fitz cried, lifting his head. "I'm getting massive readings!"

A plump man in a blue Hawaiian shirt and jeans came up to them, eyes glued on Coulson. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Agent Coulson of SHIELD." Coulson stopped while the team kept walking, producing a badge from his coat pocket. "We've received word that there is a possible alien technology signature coming from one of your dig areas."

The man read the badge, front to back, before looking up. "Well, I don't know what could be giving it off. We've pulled nothing but rocks and broken relics from the last tomb we opened."

"My man is confident that there's something here. If you let us, we'll see what it is and be on our merry way."

Skye tried to keep her eyes on the mission, but couldn't help but think, _We're halfway to appropriating already._

"What do you mean by 'see what it is'?"

Instantly, the team picked up their pace. "We at SHIELD will need to appropriate any alien relics left behind in case of radioactive signatures or other effects. We'll only take the one thing, don't worry."

"But what if this alien relic has something to do with the advancement of the Egyptian civilization?"

They walked faster towards a tent that Fitz was nearly trotting toward, leaving Coulson and the man out of listening range. They knew that they would be able to hear the conversation in a few moments. "Its here!" Fitz hollered. "Among these rocks."

"Let's find it and get out." Triplett advised. "Coulson's getting an audience."

"Tripp," May called. "Let them find the 084."

Triplett nodded and followed her back to Coulson's side where a number of archaeologists were starting to perk up. "Alright guys," Fitz told them. "Let's find this thing."

The area beneath the tent was a blue plastic tarp held down by a number of rocks of all sizes. Some were smooth with plaster designs of Ancient Egyptians in their finest linens, others were just… rocks. Skye and Simmons attacked the closest rocks, trying to find identifying marks that weren't from Earth.

"How about this one?" Skye asked, holding up a bowling ball sized rock with a cartouche on the side, some of the characters not what she had seen in a quick internet search on The Bus.

Fitz leaned his device closer and shook his head. "No, not that one."

"Though that cartouche is quite interesting." Simmons smiled, turning over a tennis ball sized rock. "You should leave it facing up so the archaeologists can see it."

Skye did as she was told and continued on. "Simmons, what did you just do?" Fitz demanded, raising his arm to reveal a dark spot on his armpit.

"Nothing, I just stepped here." She placed her left leg near her right and moved it around a milk jug tall, foot wide rock.

"That's the one!"

The women looked at the rock, half covered in hardened soil and smooth on one side as though it were a part of a doorframe. "That's the one?" Skye asked, turning to Fitz. "That looks like it fell off a mountain."

"I'm getting strong signatures off of it. Signatures like when we found the Asgardian staff…" He looked up. "We've found something from Asgard."

"Are you sure?" Simmons asked, running to his side to look at the monitor.

"Please tell me you found something?" Coulson asked, striding to them as the other archaeologists conversed behind him, a child running to another tent.

"We're getting massive Asgardian signatures." Simmons told him, stepping aside to show him. "This is definitely alien."

"Pack it up and let's go before we have-"

"Agent Coulson!"

They all turned in time to see a petite Hispanic woman with brown hair tied in a tight bun atop her head, brown eyes, tight filthy black shirt with Captain America's shield printed across the breast, jeans that once were blue but were now caked with mud, and steel toed hiking boots. Coulson flung his head to the team. "Pack up, now!"

He had barely turned back to the woman when he saw her fist catapult into his cheek. "Sup? Remember me?"

She jerked her left hand back in time for May to catch it and push her back.

The woman was not deterred. "You _stole_ my iceman!"

"Appropriated!" Coulson corrected, clutching his hand to his cheek and spitting out a wad of blood. "You had better not knocked out my filling!"

"Oh, I can do more than that!" She planted her feet and attempted to launch herself at him had Triplett not caught her waist, twirl her around and shove her back so that she slipped to a knee.

"You're not taking my rock!" She screamed, jumping to her boots. "This one is mine!"

"We need to appropriate anything of alien technology to keep it from getting in the wrong hands, Miss Saldivar." Coulson told her, standing erect as Simmons and Skye threw the rock into a backpack.

"Oh yeah, like Hydra?"

"How do you know about that?" Triplett asked, bending his knees into a quick action stance.

"Coulson should know. Freggin' SHIELD's shut me down two hundred and nineteen times!"

"That was part of our agreement, Miss Saldivar." Coulson stepped out of the shade to come to Triplett's side. "We paid you for your cooperation and in return, you never mention the incident again."

"'Paid me for my cooperation?'" Miss Saldivar demanded. "I was fighting stage two frost bite up to my butt when you put that money in my account and hauled off my iceman! I didn't get a say in anything!"

"You're actually complaining about three million dollars?"

"Yes, I am! Because that's all I got was the money I didn't want. No recognition that I nearly died, not even a freggin' medal from the President for finding Truman's pet soldier, nothing! I can't even change Wikipedia without you guys shutting me down."

"The world's not ready for your name to be exposed, Miss Saldivar." Coulson told her, his tenor lowering to compassionate. "Believe me, it's better to remain anonymous."

"The world's not ready, or you're not ready to tell Captain Rogers who really pulled him from the ice?"

Everyone within a hearing distance froze.

Miss Saldivar stared at him, fuming with disgust. "It might have been SHIELD's logo on the crane that picked him up, but it was my compass and my equipment that led me to these." She attacked her neck to withdraw tarnished dog tags in the style of a World War II soldier.

Skye's eyes shot to Triplett in time to see him lean forward with intrigue. Those tags were the real deal.

Coulson looked at the dulled metal glinting in the unrelenting sun. "I was the one who suggested you keep those. To let them remind you that you do indeed matter."

"Thanks for the memento." She dropped the tags and cocked her brow. "I sure do _appreciate _it." She glared at him, amber eye meeting chocolate. "You're not, taking, my rock."

"What makes it yours?"

"I felt the signatures first. I saw the markings and identified them before six of my team nearly died in a tomb collapse. That makes me have first dibs."

Coulson nodded. "Unfortunately, SHIELD doesn't do dibs. So, you're out of luck." He turned back to Fitz, Skye and Simmons. "Let's go."

Skye hadn't even blinked when she saw May catch Miss Saldivar and fling her onto her back. Miss Saldivar rolled on the dirt, grabbed a handful of sand and rock, and pull herself up to launch around Triplett to reach for Coulson. Triplett caught her arm and twisted it back, making her stagger to her knees before May who her withdrawn gun.

Fitz, Simmons, and Skye jumped from the tarp, Skye with the rock backpack on her shoulders.

"That's my rock, Coulson!" Miss Saldivar screamed. "I'm going to get it back!"

"Sure you will." Coulson muttered, not looking back.

"So, she was the one who found Captain America?" Fitz asked as they tumbled out of the Suburban in the bowels of The Bus, (they had all been too hot and exhausted on the ride back to talk much).

"Way back when." Coulson replied, pulling off his red tie. "She and some archaeologist buddies were looking around the Arctic Circle for Nordic relics. She wanted to get ahead and went alone. When they found her, she was half dead and clutching in one hand those dog tags, and the other, Cap's hand that she dug to find. The way her friends described it, it seemed like Cap had grasped her hand as well."

"That's a little freaky." Skye swallowed, adjusting the rock backpack. "So SHIELD just paid her off and that's it?"

"Yep. Most of the team thought she would die either way. It got real awkward when she pulled through without so much as a scratch."

"So, what do we do with this?" Simmons asked as Skye dropped the backpack onto the ramp, May closing it before slipping to the cockpit.

"Run some diagnostics, make sure it doesn't have anything harmful." Coulson told her, swallowing and stepping close to the water faucet. "Then box it up for NASA."

"I can definitely go for a massage." Skye sighed, rubbing her shoulders. "Or a chiropractor."

Fitz took a rock backpack strap. "It's not that heavy… good Lord that's thick!"

"Told you, Fitz." Simmons smiled, following him into the lab.

The Bus shuddered with life and each person in their place held onto the first solid surface they could find as the vessel became airborne. Butterflies that used to occupy Skye's stomach when she first joined the team fluttered to her throat. She pressed her back to the wall and crossed her arms over her middle, trying to dispel this feeling for something she had done many times before.

But, it couldn't be shaken.

She touched her lips, feeling them to be chapped and longing for cool water. As soon as The Bus was stabilized, she traipsed to the lounge to take a cool bottle of water from the fridge, praying this wronged feeling would leave the pit of her stomach.

The back of the Suburban opened with the emergency hatch. Slowly, Adrianna Saldivar slithered from the vehicle, hand on the door so that Fitz and Simmons wouldn't notice anything over their study of her rock.

Adrianna crouched on the ramp, watching the scientists while holding the door. She backed away so that she was mostly hidden by the vehicle and lifted her free right hand. From the center of her palm, a blue sparkling light emitted. Gently she pressed the light to the door and slammed it shut, not a sound emitting in the echoing room.

She stood, eyes locked on Fitz and Simmons. She stepped around the car and vanished before she came around the hood.

"Run the diagnostics again, Jemma."

"There's no need to, Fitz!" Simmons removed her goggles and looked at him. "We know these are Asgardian signatures."

"These can't be right though. Look at them!" He handed her a report with many statistics and graphs on it. "These are not even close to the signatures our past finds have given us. Its like, there's something missing."

"What could be missing?"

"I don't know. But in my opinion there's something missing from these readings."

"You think there's something else like this rock out there somewhere?"

He shrugged. "There could be."

"How do we know for sure?"

"We can't, really. I mean, unless this has a message from whoever sent it that this rock has a mate somewhere-"

"Hey, guys!" Skye poked her head in, hanging onto the doorframe. "Coulson wants you guys in his office, we're getting to land soon."

"We can tell him about there possibly being another rock." Simmons suggested, moving around the table to the door.

Fitz nodded, following her and turning to Skye. "Did he say what he wanted to talk to us about?"

"No mention. But, he seemed pretty optimistic."

They shrugged and walked off, leaving Skye alone in the lab. She watched them leave, making sure they hadn't forgotten anything, before looking to the rock and stepping forward. Instantly, her entire appearance morphed into Adrianna's form.

Adrianna cocked her brow, then rushed to the table to collect her rock.

"Hey, Fitz!" Triplett called, turning the corner, "Have you fixed…" He stopped when he saw Adrianna, rock halfway in the backpack. "What are you doing here?"

Adrianna stared at him, then grabbed the backpack and flung it upward just as Triplett charged her. The rock smacked him on the temple, sending him crashing to the carpet in an unconscious heap. Adrianna juggled the rock several times before catching and shoving it into the backpack.

"Skye, I told you, don't joke with us like that!" Simmons' voice echoed down the hall.

"I'm telling you guys, I didn't call you!"

Adrianna shouldered the backpack and vanished, the illuminated research table moving as though someone was climbing it.

Fitz, Skye, and Simmons entered the lab, the three of them halting the moment they saw Triplett on the ground. "Tripp!" Skye screamed, rushing to him alongside Simmons and followed by Fitz.

"Call Coulson!" Simmons cried over her shoulder.

The sounds of Fitz's feet against the floor echoed along with his shouts of Coulson's name. Using their combined strengths, Skye and Simmons pushed Triplett to his side, revealing a stream of blood leaking from his temple. Skye turned to Simmons, "What do you need?"

"Get me my flashlight! He might have a concussion."

Skye jumped up and faced the table, looking for a small green flashlight that she'd seen several times before. She saw it, at the other end of the table. Instantly, Skye punched her hand over the surface with the intention to grab it, but instead jammed her hand into something solid.

Something fell, crashing on the other side of the table. "Damn, that hurt!"

Skye grabbed the flashlight and threw it down to Simmons, walking around the table. She started at the sight of Adrianna, writhing in pain from her descent and landing on the rock backpack. "DC!" Skye screamed, hastening the thundering of three more sets of footsteps.

Skye withdrew her gun, pointing it at Adrianna's chest. "She was invisible and I punched her legs on the table and she was here!" She told Coulson as he entered.

Coulson stood beside her, his gun also drawn. "What do you mean by 'invisible'?"

"Like, completely gone, then she was here!"

Adrianna pushed the straps off her shoulders and rolling to her chest. Coulson turned to Simmons. "How's Tripp?"

"He'll live." She called over the table edge, her feet the only thing visible.

"Well, Miss Saldivar." Coulson purred, looking sideways at Adrianna. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Adrianna looked up at them, arching her back to stretch. "I saw that going a bit differently in my mind."

Miss Saldivar sat, arms crossed, back against the chair, and eyes cemented to a particular spot on the metal table in front of her. Simmons had checked her for broken or bruised ribs but found nothing. "Not even traces of frostbite?" Coulson asked, looking at Adrianna through the monitors.

Simmons shook her head. "Nope, not even that."

"Something's not adding up here." Coulson frowned. "If she was a super, she would have been on SHIELD's list."

"Still waiting for that one to open." Skye told him, tapping away on a tablet. "Adrianna Saldivar is on the FBI's watch list as apart of SHIELD's watch list but mostly because of her brother, Alfredo Saldivar who also goes by Fenris Freyason." She showed him side-by-side pictures of Adrianna and a Hispanic man with brown cropped hair, blue eyes, pale features, and a menacing smile that stung Coulson's chest. "He's on the terrorist watch list."

"What's he done?"

"Armed robbery, extortion, grand larceny, you name it he's done it."

Coulson nodded. "So, this guy likes to roll big?"

Skye nodded, "Oh yeah."

"So why's his sister in a desert playing in dirt that can kill her?"

"I don't know." Skye returned to her tablet. "She's a registered archaeologist. Her name's on several digs in both South America and Europe, Egypt was a first for her. As far as I can see, she hasn't been near her brother in years."

"That still doesn't explain how I got this bump on my head." Tripp told them, watching them from a chair off to the side. "How'd she get in here?"

"I don't know." Skye told him. "I've been watching the security footage for an hour and I can't see anything except the trunk door opening. We should have seen her get out of the car for her size, but there's nothing."

"Invisibility is quite the fun feature." Coulson smirked. "Let's go find out how she got on our plane." He crossed the lounge and into the interrogation room, watching her as she didn't so much as flinch at the sound of the door opening.

He towered over her, watching her bore holes into the table. "So, how'd you get into our car?"

Nothing. He had to do a double take to make sure she was breathing.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Miss Saldivar. The easy way is you tell me what I ask and the hard ways is, well… I'll let you use your imagination."

Exhale. Inhale.

"I'll try again. What is so special about this rock that you boarded a government aircraft to get it back?"

Inhale. Exhale.

"Strike two, Miss Saldivar. Shall we go for strike three?"

His eyes began to itch waiting for hers to blink.

"Alright then." He turned his heel and left the interrogation room. "Who is she?" He said as soon as the door was closed. "I need to know everything."

Skye nodded and immediately stared tapping the tablet. "On it."

"What are you getting at, Phil?" May asked, arms crossed.

"She's not doing anything." He looked back at the monitor overlooking the interrogation room. "When I interrogated Thor, he did the same thing. It's an Asgardian trait to not flinch in the face of adversity. She also said she felt the rock and claimed it as hers."

Tripp looked at him. "So you're saying that she's Asgardian?"

"She might be." He turned to Skye. "Anything?"

"I'm not sure." She frowned, "She has three aliases, Sylvie Lushton, Helen Eve, and Adrianna Saldivar. Among many others, these are the most popular."

"Which is the one she's used the least, like once or twice?"

Skye scrolled through the file, eyes whisking about the screen to find what Coulson was asking for. "One name she's used three times, Sigyn Freyason." She looked up at him. "That's the FBI connection with her brother."

"That name, Freyason. What's it's deal?"

She tapped away for moments. "It just appeared in the last decade from Miss Saldivar and her brother." She looked at Coulson. "What do you think is her real name?"

"Let's find out." He turned his heel. "Keep looking for anything you can on her."

Coulson reentered the interrogation room. Again, she didn't so much as flinch. "Hello, Sigyn."

Her eyes lifted and she turned an Exorcist-like face to him. "Only my kin calls me that. _Close_ kin."

"So what shall we call you?"

She inhaled, taking in his every feature. "Adrianna is fine."

He took a seat across from her. "So, do you want to tell us how you made it onto our plane?"

"Not really, no."

"I had no idea you were built for invisibility."

"There's a lot about me that I've taken great pains to hide from guys like you."

"And yet, you've risked it all on a rock."

"Some things are worth melting for."

"Such as what?"

She looked at him. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Depends on what you know."

"Not much. I just felt the magic coming from it and had to grab it."

"Tell us and we won't put you away for entering a government facility."

She exhaled, a twitch on her lips like a smirk. "Shiver."

"I'll make you a deal." She looked at him. "If you tell us, I might let you in on the study team."

"Might?"

"Depends on what you tell us."

"It has Asgardian markings and signatures."

"That we don't already know."

"You didn't know about the markings, _that_ I can tell."

"How?"

"Because you can only see them in the dark without light on them. The tomb was the perfect place to see them once my flashlight was turned off."

"What else?"

"That tomb was sealed nearly five thousand years ago." She paused, measuring him for his knowledge about history, then placed her elbows on the table. "That rock, the plaster on one of the sides, is common with two thousand year old tombs. What's a two thousand year old rock doing in a five thousand year old tomb?"

"Are you sure it's two thousand years old?"

"Positive. The science wasn't around five thousand years ago because of lack of trade and funds. The plaster was introduced by early Greek traders and only available to kings and nobility three thousand years ago. That quality plaster was painted on two thousand years ago after much perfection and science."

Coulson nodded. "How were you able to get that out of what, thirty minutes, in that tomb?"

"I'm not telling you all my secrets, Coulson." She leaned back into her chair and extended her arms. "Let's just say, I'm that good for now and work back from there."

Coulson cocked his brow. "Right. Now let's get down to the consequences of your assaulting and attempt to steal on government property."

Adrianna snorted and looked away.

"Am I amusing you?"

"Yeah," She turned to him, "A bit."

"How so?"

She smirked and stared, saying nothing.

Coulson nodded. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back."

"No promises."

He turned his heel and walked out of the room, eyes too focused to hear the door close or not. "Talk to me Skye."

"She's on SHIELD's watch _and_ supers list." She showed him her tablet with Adrianna's mug shot. "They rated her a level four, whatever that means."

"Supers were rated on a five point scale, five being the most lethal or unstable. Four is not comforting."

Tripp peered around the tablet. "Why'd she earn a four?"

Skye turned the tablet around. "It says she's fond of fires, but not if she's an arsonist or can conjure it with her mind." She showed them a surveillance video of Adrianna walking through a wall of fire and jumping into a black van.

Coulson nodded. "Who are they?"

"No idea, but one has been identified as someone called 'The Executioner'. No real names, though." Skye looked back at the screen. "This guy's like the terminator. Pops up every now and then, raises all kinds of hell, then disappears."

The plane lurched sideways, causing each person to slide to the right side of The Bus. "What's happening?" Coulson cried, nearly crashing into the bar.

Fitz latched onto the couch, holding on for dear life. "What's May doing?"

Simmons, disoriented atop Skye, rolled onto the carpet to better gain her bearings. "I highly doubt this is May!"

"Then who is it?" Skye demanded, nearly avoiding getting kicked by Simmons in the face.

The intercom whistled near their heads as the plane leveled, bottles of water shooting to the other side of the floor. "Are you guys alright?" May's voice called. "I'm not controlling the plane!"

Coulson stood to shaking feet. "Then who is?"

"Could it be Adrianna?" Triplett asked, also rising.

"Adrianna is not in the interrogation room." May announced. "She's loose on the plane."

Coulson swallowed. "She could just be invisible."

"No, Phil. She's gone. The door was never closed properly and she slipped out."

"How's that possible?" Fitz cried, "That interrogation room is state of the art! We can put the queen in there and she'd be perfectly safe!"

"Find her!" Coulson shouted. "May, where are we going?"

"We're flying out of aviation laws, it can be anywhere."

Coulson rushed to the cockpit, latching onto a light fixture when the plane lurched again, this time downward.

"Phil! Are you okay?"

Coulson spread his legs between the opening of a door and a doorframe, stopping his sliding. "More or less!"

"We seem to be heading towards Europe." May grunted as though she were also trying to stop gravity from flinging her around. "I'll inform you as we get closer to a location."

"Good!"

The plane leveled, but Coulson pressed his back to the floor for moments just in case. He hoisted himself to his feet and looked around as Skye rounded the other side of the hall, looking flustered. "We found Adrianna."

"Where is she?"

"In the lab. She's locked herself in with the rock."

Adrianna stood in a pile of broken vials and cocktail of different colored liquids. She had stepped in worse before, she wasn't going to squeal now.

Coulson jumped into view followed by Skye. "What are you doing, Adrianna?"

She looked up from the rock. "Trying to figure out what the hell this thing's doing!"

"You mean you're not doing it?"

"Coulson, why would I wreak a plane with me on it? Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it!"

Fitz banged on the glass doors. "Open the door, let us help!"

"Can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"I think this rock is guarded by an Anubis warrior."

There was absolute silence for several moments.

"A _what_?" They demanded in unison.

Adrianna turned the rock over, scanning the plaster. "When I saw it in the tomb, the incandescent lights had what looked like a warning about this rock. This would be the first time I've seen an Anubis warrior out of a pharaoh's tomb."

"Why out of a pharaoh's tomb?" Simmons asked, frowning.

Adrianna looked up. "I don't have my comfy lab or time to answer that."

"Forget about that." Triplett scoffed, grabbing onto a safety net as the plane began to tilt again. "You've seen _another_ Anubis warrior?"

"Yep! Nasty jackals if I've ever… seen… one!" The Bus turned a sharp right, the team flying to the wall whilst Adrianna slid with her rock crushed to her chest to the wall and walked on it, still trying to read what only she could see on the plaster.

"What's it doing to my plane?" Coulson yelled, trying to look at Adrianna from over the jumbled and squirming bodies.

"I don't know! I think it's looking for it's other half!"

"You see," Fitz grunted, "I told you!"

"Where's it's other half?"

Adrianna looked at him, her feet planted between a microscope and collection of red rubber vial caps. "Really, that's your question? Where? I can barely read this thing because of all the light and you want a coordinate plane of where we're going to land?"

"That'd be nice!"

"We're going to where the rock or warrior wants! Now stop asking questions until I figure this thing out!"

The Bus began to level and Adrianna sat to press her back against the wall that was her floor, her legs above her to rest upon cabinets. Moments later, the team was tumbling to the original floor and Adrianna, right side up with her rock on her lap. She jumped off the counter she sat upon and started flicking off the lights. "I need absolute darkness." She grumbled. "I can't read them like this."

"You said you can feel the energy coming off that rock." Skye gasped, standing to wobbling feet. "Can you tell where it's taking us?"

"That's what I've been doing the last ten minutes, I can't get a read on it." The room was darkened, but not what would be considered absolute. "Europe, for sure. But Manchester, Stockholm, Normandy, or Vienna, I can't tell."

"Phil!" May's voice called. "Phil, we're heading for Normandy."

Adrianna scoffed. "That narrows things."

Triplett hoisted Simmons to her feet. "Why Normandy?"

"Because the Vikings landed there and there is still a strong presence in certain villages." Adrianna called, throwing a fire blanket over her head and the rock.

Coulson looked at her. "Vikings meaning Asgard?"

She poked her head out from the blanket. "You bet!" Then disappeared.

"May! I'm coming to the cockpit. Try to find a tarmac that doesn't want to shoot us down!"

"Then you'd better get up here quick!"

Coulson bolted, pounding down the halls as quickly as possible to the cockpit before the Bus turned again. He burst through the door, finding May seated in the pilot's seat fighting the steering wheel as though she were a body builder trying a new set of weights. "What's been happening?"

"I've been fighting this for nearly thirty minutes straight!" She winced, blood streaming from her nose and beneath her hair. "Bus has a mind of her own."

"Where are we headed?"

"I don't know. We're heading fast for the ocean, though."

A light on May's panel of gages and meters brightened beneath a blank screen. "Answer that for me, Coulson."

He touched the screen in time to see Adrianna's sweating face before him. "Hello?"

"I think I know where we're going."

"Where?" May demanded.

"There's a castle in Honfleur right near the beach that might be where my rock illustrates."

May grit her teeth. "Does it have an open field?"

"Yeah, right next to it."

"Good." May reached above her to jab a particular button. "Everybody take a seat! It's going to be a rough landing!"

The screen faded and Coulson traipsed to the copilot's seat, frantically grabbing his seatbelt to fasten it. The device had barely clicked when he looked up to see an ocean of green grass rush the windshield. His stomach flipped as the Bus touched ground, making the two people in the cockpit leave their seats for a moment before crashing back to the leather. May gripped the wheel and applied the breaks, cursing in Chinese as the Bus refused to slow. Flowers of all colors glossed the surface of the windshield, along with dirt, rocks, a bird, and a wooden cart.

Coulson inhaled as slowly, just beyond the green, the Atlantic Ocean reared its siren-like head. "May!"

She bared her teeth and screamed, the vessel coming to a halt just as the nose hung over a rock face. They stared out the windshield in absolute silence, two elderly men in a sailboat staring up at them. Coulson inhaled. "Bonjour."

Skye exhaled deeply as did the rest of the team. They had strapped into their seats against the walls at the plane's rear, right outside the doors of the lab. Adrianna had refused to come out of the lab despite the dangers. She instead shoved her rock into a cabinet, taped it shut, then crawled under the sink with her back to one end and her feet to another to provide a human cradle net.

The plane had rocked and shook, making each person question their lunch choices. All at once, they had stopped and felt a rush of peace as their world settled back into their rightful places. Skye looked around, a smile blooming. "We made it."

"That or we're already dead!" Fitz winced, his eyes pinched shut.

Simmons smiled. "Oh, Fitz! We're okay!"

_BANG!_

They all looked to the lab doors to see the 084 rock shoot from the taped cabinet out into the lab, rolling like a soccer ball. Adrianna looked at it, extending her palm as though she were testing a stove for heat. She dropped her hand and sprinted to the lab doors, punching the yellow lock button to open them. No sooner had the doors opened was the rock twisting around again.

Triplett unfastened his seat belt to stride to her. Adrianna's eyes widened. "Get out of-"

The rock shot out of the lab, narrowly missing Triplett's head before he dove out of the way, and slammed into…

They all stared, wide eyed, hardly breathing, as they saw the rock land into the awaiting arms of a seven foot tall, half man, half jackal wearing the headdress of a pharaoh that sparkled with jewels in the dim light. Its fingers could have curled completely around the rock, but it cupped it in it's palms like a sacred relic.

"That," Adrianna panted, staring it down, "Is an Anubis Warrior."

Each of the team stared, unable to speak.

"Don't. Move."

The Anubis Warrior wore a kilt of fine linen trimmed in gold and had legs of a prize winning bodybuilder. Its figure was lean, chest wide, and wore a pectoral shaped like falcons wings with a ruby in the center. The head that protruded from the headdress was as black as slate with a long snout and eyes just as black. It adjusted the rock, looking this way and that. Then looked at the team and Adrianna.

And curled its lips back to reveal dentures worse than a rabid Rottweiler.

And _roared!_

Simmons and Fitz were the first into the lab while Triplett and Skye drew their guns at it. "Don't shoot it!" Adrianna screamed. "Just open the ramp!"

Triplett scoffed. "The hell I'm opening it!"

"Do not shoot it in here! That is a sacred walking god corpse, you'll piss it off!"

Adrianna stepped between Skye and Triplett, arms out. "Let me talk to it. Skye, _slowly_ make your way to the switch that opens the ramp."

Skye inhaled, then muttered, "Fine."

Adrianna neared the Anubis Warrior, whispering what sounded like Ancient Egyptian platitudes.

Coulson's step neared the team. "Hey guys, is everything… What the hell is that?!"

"Damn it if it wasn't Captain Obvious."

The Anubis Warrior screamed, sending such a pulse into their ears that all mortals clamped the sides of their heads and dropped to their knees. The Warrior charged, causing Adrianna to jump to her feet and meet it's snout with her fist in a fierce uppercut, making it stagger. "Get the door!"

Skye jumped and mashed the big red button to open the ramp. The Anubis Warrior shook it's headdress and mane, then turned both wicked black eyes back to the one who hit it. With a mighty claw, it backhanded her, sending her flying upward to the observation rail. Adrianna smacked her front and landed worse than a bird with a wing cramp.

The Anubis Warrior roared and jumped, pulling its knees into its chest to morph into a gold light. Skye hadn't even raised her arm to shield her when it flew out the ramp and down the plowed grass field into the countryside.

Adrianna winced as Simmons examined her. "Ow!"

"Are you alright?" Simmons asked.

Adrianna exhaled. "I've had weirder days."

Triplett narrowed his eyes. "Weirder than being smacked around by a sacred walking god corpse?"

"Believe it or not, yes. Just, none come to mind at the moment." She brought herself to a sitting position.

"Director Coulson, she needs a hospital."

"What I need, dearie, is ten minutes."

"Don't be ridiculous. Your rib is…" She trailed off, pressing into Adrianna's side.

"Ow!"

"I don't understand."

"Like I said, ten minutes."

"What is it?"Coulson asked, looking from one woman to the other. "What do you feel?"

Simmons whirled to him. "Her rib was broken. _Snapped!_"

"And now?"

Adrianna looked at them. "Let's just say, I heal really quick."

"Are you an Asguardian?" Triplett demanded, crouching to get a better look.

"She doesn't fit the stereotypical mold, Tripp."

"Thanks, my grandfather would have loved to hear that."

"So you are!" Triplett shouted.

She inhaled and arched her back slightly. "No."

"But you're something."

"I'm in pain and getting pissed off, does that count?"

"DC!" Skye called from below.

Coulson leaned over the rail. "What've you found?"

"The 084 is gone, so is The Anubis Warrior."

Coulson exhaled and looked away. "You can't get a trace on its signatures? Anything?"

"Fitz had something for a couple of minutes, then it blew up his machine. He's trying to fix it now."

"I can find it."

They all looked to Adrianna.

Coulson swallowed. "How?"

She inhaled. "Think weird and I don't want to explain."

"You're going to have to."

"Alright, I don't want to explain _right now._"

Coulson tilted his head left and right. "We can work with that. Ten minutes?"

"Seven."

Adrianna stretched, working her back and sides and wincing very little. To Triplett, it was as though she was waking from an uncomfortable bed rather than a reaper of bad dreams. She exhaled deeply, adjusting her Captain America shirt. "Ready to find a myth?" She faced him, analyzing him as he seemed to stop breathing.

"Just how many Anubis Warriors have you encountered?"

She walked to him, stretching her arms across her chest. "Two. They always come in twos."

"Why?"

"One to guard the door, the other to guard the king."

"Why would this Warrior be alone to guard a rock?"

She looked at him with a tilted chin. "That's the million dollar question, isn't it?"

"Where are you from?"

She rolled her eyes and passed him. "Planet Earth."

They walked slowly down to Coulson and the team, Adrianna not faking stiffness. "Alright, Adrianna." Coulson called as soon as they both cleared the landing. "Where could it be?"

She took a moment to right herself, making sure her chin was parallel. "You see that vast, green, tilled landscape? Beyond that is the town of Honfleur, and beyond that, Paris. Now, ignore the potential for an incredibly ugly Anubis Warrior to wreak havoc on those people and look to the castle on our left. That's where the Warrior and my rock are. Not one without the other."

"You're sure?"

"Yep."

"How sure?"

"Long story so I'll give you the sweet and condensed version. Anubis Warriors are curses inflicted upon a particular king or in this case, not-so-random rock. They have to be curses in order for them to last and attach to whatever needs protecting. Really powerful magicky stuff that is still unknown. Now, they stay with their inflicted until the end of time, only moving if they have something to move to, like a talisman broken in half. Half A is inflicted, half B is a safe house. The rest just keel over and die with the proper amount of don't quit ass kicking and it helps to have a bit of magic. Got it?"

"I think so."

"The rock had a glyph of it's part B that looks like a box decorated in the Norman style. That means that it's in that castle." She lifted her finger and pointed to the ancient grey stone structure to their left. "Otherwise, it wouldn't have pulled us to it." She looked around. "Any questions?"

"I got one." They turned to Triplett. "How do we get in big, ancient castle?"

They turned to Adrianna. "The front door is usually polite."

"Really? The front door?"

"Yeah, the front door."

There was hardly a person who could believe their eyes as Adrianna turned her heel and walked down the ramp as confidently as she did when they first met her. Triplett was the first to follow her, eyes narrowed in case she wanted to have them killed by the Anubis Warrior to take her rock back.

He followed her onto the most beautiful wild green grass he had ever stepped upon since his Army days in Vermont. Seagulls soared overhead crying gossip over their landing, and to his right, a shepherd and his dog stood, staring at them worse than his sheep. "Adrianna, should we expect the federal government to show up?"

She turned round and walked backwards. "Long story. Let's just go with no."

"That story is getting longer every minute we know you!"

"Good, makes the flight time go faster!"

Triplett watched her turn back around, hearing the steps of the team behind him. The castle was a gigantic structure! It had a complete outer wall, dug area surrounding it that was most likely a moat back in the day, and topped off with a functioning drawbridge. The castle itself had six turrets, a walkway between each, and stained glass windows reflecting in the sun. He had never seen the Tower of London, but he imagined this castle to be something like it. Triplett looked from the pale bricked building to Adrianna.

"Tell me this isn't your castle."

She looked over her shoulder. "Family retreat."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Long story!"

"It's going to be a movie length story!"

"Watch Game of Thrones! That's a typical family reunion."

They stepped onto the cobblestone sidewalk, the unevenness massaging their soles. "I'm going to skip over the fact that you might or might not be Asgardian, have one hell of a nice vacation house, and that you knocked me out." He caught up beside her. "I'm going to focus on the sacred walking god corpse thing that wants to kill us."

"It doesn't want to kill us. It wants to protect it's inflicted."

"Protect mean kill?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"So, how do we kill it?"

"No idea."

Triplett rushed to cut her off. "What do you mean?"

"Each Anubis Warrior is different. What kills one might empower another or kill them both. Depends on the person inflicting the curse."

"That would be great to know!"

"Chill, dude. We don't even know where it's Part B is."

"That makes a difference?"

"Yeah. Depending on how fragile it is, the Warrior will restrain itself. If the Part B can be easily destroyed, its not going to fight as hard because if the Part B is destroyed, so is the Warrior."

"Meaning it's going to do everything it can to keep us from the room where the Part B is."

"Yeah, that's why I let you guys tag along." She tapped his shoulder and stepped around him.

Triplett bit his cheek and clenched his fists, waiting for Coulson to join him. "If she gets us killed, I'll personally dispatch her."

"Why, what'd she say?"

Adrianna turned. "You guys going to talk, or what?"

They walked while Triplett filled them in. "She's going to use us as distractions for the Warrior while she looks for the Part B." He added, "Probably so that she can cross us off so that she can steal both parts."

"If that happens," Coulson replied slowly, "One of us ice her with whatever we've got left. French federals are on their way."

"She said they won't show up. It's a part of her long, slightly scary, story."

"Her brother is a millionaire." Skye told them. "He could have bought off the feds in this area."

"But to buy off someone enough to ignore international aviation laws?" Triplett asked, shaking his head. "They've got to have some sort of serious brass in their pocket, or an iron fist on all the right people."

"Her brother didn't get on the FBI and SHIELD watch lists for being a nice guy," Skye swallowed, "Maybe this is the reason?"

Adrianna halted before them, extending her palms out beside her. "What's up?" Coulson called, slowing the team to a halt.

She flew around. "Get down!"

Triplett heard growling before he felt a flash of heat on his back like standing before a pizza oven. The three of them fell forward, the cobblestone the only thing saving them from a pulse of gold light that vaporized a swarm of flies before them on its way to Adrianna's chest.

Simmons watched with wide eyes and clamped mouth as the Anubis Warrior materialized out of nowhere from the meadow field behind the search party. Adrianna warned them just in time, but that curse was a nasty one! It shot off pulse after pulse of gold, making indentations in the castle walls each the size of a European football.

Fitz rushed to her side. "What do we do?"

Adrianna charged the Anubis Warrior, knocking the pulses away like dodge balls. "She has a resistance to the Warrior's shots." Simmons breathed. "She has to be a super of pedigree to do that."

"What _should_ we do?"

"Let's think, Ian!" She pulled him away from the meadow and to the safety of the ramp shade of The Bus. "There was a part B to the 084 rock, right?"

"Yeah, that's what Adrianna said."

"Right, so it's not with it." They looked, watching as Adrianna and the Anubis Warrior exchanged blows.

"Meaning that the Warrior is protecting it's young, in a manner."

"Exactly. But where could it be?"

"Animals protect their young when a threat is relatively close. Mother bears don't come out of their den until a threat is about twenty paces away."

"Right, so there should be a door around there."

They both peered with their noses on the ramp and eyes as wide as giant poppies as Adrianna was knocked back several times but kept jumping to her feet to issue more blows to the Anubis Warrior. Triplett rolled off the cobblestone sidewalk and withdrew his gun, firing several shots directly into the Warrior's chest. It screamed, making all mortals clamp down on their ears.

"There!" Fitz yelled, pointing above the Warrior's head and pressing his ear to his shoulder to cover it. "The window!"

Simmons dared remove her hands in time to see the Anubis Warrior double over on all fours and lurch full speed towards Triplett. "You sure it's the window?"

The Warrior pounced on Triplett.

"Yes! This is a Norman castle, there aren't any doors in the wall. That was likely a cannon hole where they would shoot out in the later years. It goes into the castle, I'm sure of it."

Skye and Coulson jumped onto the back of the Anubis Warrior, trying to get it off Triplett.

"We have to do something!" Simmons hissed, jumping from their hiding place. "Come, run!"

They cantered through the serene meadow into the fray, barely being missed by a flying Adrianna, Coulson, and Skye. Adrianna, infinite in energy, jumped up and zigzagged to the Warrior to avoid its pulses, watching over her shoulder as Simmons and Fitz skidded to the wall below the stained glass window.

"Let me climb on your shoulders!"

Fitz looked at her. "What?"

"I'm the lightest! Hurry!"

Fitz looked from her to the window, sweat starting to already build on his brow. He took a knee and interlaced his fingers, holding the conjoined palms out to Simmons. She wasted no time jumping onto his step, using the walls as a guide. Fitz struggled to rise, shaking Simmons this way and that and whimpering slightly at the sound of the fighting behind them.

Simmons rose to the window, her chin coming to the sill. She pushed on the old glass, trying to make an opening. "Its locked!"

Fitz panted. "Break the bloody glass, then!"

She rammed her elbow into the red, blue, and green glass, her inner scholar crying out at the action. She punched the rest of the glass, trying hard to not cut herself. Fitz swayed, nearly dropping her. "Fitz!"

"You're heavier than you look!" He cried. "I'm losing strength!"

Simmons looked at her work, at the glass yet to be removed. She inhaled and placed her hands in the gaps wide enough to hold her. She stifled a cry when she felt a piece of glass slice into her palm. With much difficulty, Simmons hoisted herself onto the miniscule ledge, hearing Fitz exhale with relief. "Oh shut up, Fitz!"

The sill was about half of her foot long and hardly big enough for her to stand, but she was able to crouch and kick her way in.

"Jemma look out!"

Simmons turned in time to see the Anubis Warrior scream at her, a pulse in hand.

Adrianna panted, blood seeping from her lower lip, and turned her head, bits of cobblestone pressing into her cheek. "How, could I, miss the window?" She grumbled, lifting herself.

Like the others, this was one tough Anubis Warrior! But, then again they were always tougher when they were incredibly close to losing their inflicted. She staggered forward, watching as the Warrior hurtled pulses at Simmons even when she had jumped into the window.

This was the perfect time to use IT. She had to in order to get both parts of her rock. The Warrior could only be stopped with IT.

Adrianna held out her palms, fingers tight. As easily as breathing, she emitted fire from her palms. In the library of her mind, she checked out the book of pains that she read from whenever she needed IT. She stood, her fire growing with every pain read. Panting, she pulsed her fire to the Anubis Warrior, engulfing it and all its finery in her will. It roared, trying to escape her cocoon but couldn't find the exit. Adrianna dropped her hands, the fire cocoon remaining, and bolted towards it, throwing her arms up and hugging the Anubis Warrior with all fours. The fire fell, and the Anubis Warrior flailed around with Adrianna piggybacking upon it. It dropped to its knees, turning to gold ethereal light as its pulses.

Adrianna held on to the dissipating Anubis Warrior, using all of IT that didn't spew fire to summon the particles. She inhaled, pulling the light into her chest and ignored Coulson's steps as they came close to her. The light faded into her, her eyes lighting up momentarily with the golden light of the Anubis Warrior before she blinked and resumed her eye color to brown.

She could feel IT fighting against the Anubis Warrior within her, but she made them settle down, feeling more like she had an upset tummy than possession. Her eyes focused, glimpsing Coulson's leather business/ field work shoes beside her. Adrianna looked up, seeing a pair of freakishly wide eyes.

She blinked. "You want me to burp?"

"I want a thorough explanation the moment we get in the air."

Adrianna nodded. "Deal."

From the broken window, they heard a bloodcurdling scream. "I did mention that there was another one, right?"

"Yep."

"Found it."

They bolted from the cobblestone, jumping below the drawbridge to a small, iron door that would have been submerged had there been a moat. "Front door!" Triplett called, "Who'd have thought?"

Adrianna waved her arm across her body, using IT to open the door. It flew open, admitting them into the cool bowels of the castle fortress walls. Torches lit in their holders as Adrianna neared out of respect for her arrival, and all doors opened for her to peer inside. "Why's it doing that?" Someone called, they all sounded the same in here.

"Fear of the name Freyason!"

They entered a chamber that contained two rooms filled with chests and three sets of stairs, the Seal of the House of Freyason engraved in the center of the floor. Adrianna crossed her arms across her chest and thrust them downward, sending a spike of light to the rooms and stairs. Simmons fell into view, her hands bloodying the stone beneath her.

Then came the Anubis Warrior.

It seemed shaggier than its mate, and actually wielded an axe about as tall as Adrianna, but she didn't mind. She could use the axe at a later time.

The Anubis Warrior charged, but Adrianna was done playing games. She shot fire at it, engulfing it once more in a cocoon of flame. The chamber warmed at a sickening pace, but Adrianna was quick. Once more, she latched onto the beast with all fours, absorbing it into her body alongside the other one. They argued within her, IT doing its best to keep them both calm.

"She looks like she's going to be sick."

_Oh, shut up!_

"Guys, get ready in case they come back out!"

All at once, the Anubis Warriors calmed and Adrianna blinked. "That's one disgusting feeling."

"Simmons!" Fitz screamed, she hadn't heard him follow.

Simmons was lying on the floor, her head resting on her arm like she was asleep in bed. The moment Fitz touched her, she jolted awake, a wise move. "Fitz, where did it go?"

"Adrianna absorbed it." He whispered, stroking her hair. "It's gone. They're both gone."

She stared at him. "What do you mean, _absorbed_?"

He tilted his head from side to side. "Long story, I'll tell you on the way back."

Adrianna chuckled. "I thought that was my line." She moved towards Simmons. "Where did you first see the Second Warrior?"

Simmons stood, holding her bloodied palm. "Over there," She pointed to a stack of leather bound and silver studded chests. "It just started growling when I saw it."

Adrianna exhaled and waved her hand over the stacks. They hummed with energy, each one giving the same amount of activity rather than a specific chest which would have made the job much easier. She turned to see Skye, Triplett, and Coulson enter the room, Skye going to Simmons. "Finders keepers. First to find the Part B wins."

"Can't you use your magic to find it?" Coulson asked. "You found the rock, why not this?"

"If the Part B is a piece of silk, that wouldn't be a good thing." She turned and took down the topmost case.

Triplett joined her after shrugging and exhaling. Of course a big guy like him would pick up the biggest chest in the stack! "How do we know what the Part B looks like?"

"We'll find the rock that goes with it. They'll be inseparable."

They opened chest after chest, pulling out hand sewn tapestries, tarnished silver candlesticks, utensils, and others. Skye even opened a chest full of jewelry so delicate she broke a brooch just touching it. "Quick question," Skye asked, carefully placing the chest aside, "Why aren't there any guards in this castle?"

"That's a good question." Adrianna replied, closing the lid of a wall tapestry with naked nymphs. "Pierre should be here."

"Who's Pierre?" Coulson asked, closing an empty chest.

"The groundskeeper that probably saw the foundation of this place laid. Nice guy, used to tease me with my pigtails."

"Guys!" Simmons cried. They turned to find her struggling to hold a particular black chest that was about three feet by three feet and not one of the humming chests. "I think I found it!"

Adrianna and Triplett rushed to help her set it down. "How'd you think to look at these?" Adrianna asked, _My game is really off today._

"I thought like the Anubis Warriors." She beamed. "It would be ideal to curse something that wasn't the object instead of the object so that no one would know where to find it."

They set it down, Adrianna feeling slight vibrations beneath her fingers as they did so. "Yep, I think this is it."

Of course this chest had to have a lock!

"Can't you melt it off?" Triplett asked, raising his brows at Adrianna.

She swallowed and touched the lock. Mentally, she slapped shut the book of pains and closed her library. This one she had to concentrate. Adrianna took the lock, older than her grandfather's socks, and held it in her palm. Carefully, like making Jiffy Pop, she warmed her palm until the steel of the lock began to steam. Slowly, the back began to glow red and Adrianna kept her eyes glued to steel loop attached to the chest that held it shut. The entire lock, the heavy padlock that required a skeleton key, glowed orange that infected the metal Adrianna watched. Suddenly, she ripped the padlock from the chest, sending chunks of metal over the cobblestone and slapped her palm to the cobblestone, immediately thinking of HIM and his arms around her to get her to stop heating her palm.

Triplett flung back the lid of the chest and smiled. "Found the 084 rock and a velvet bag that looks like a box."

Coulson grinned. "Finders keepers."

Adrianna peered at him through her hair, allowing her eyes to flash to gold. _God I love that face!_

She swiped at Triplett, sending him flying out of the room, spread her arms to the sides of the box and sat on her haunches, allowing Warrior One's torso to emit from her core and roar at the SHIELD team. She knocked it back like her favorite whiskey, her eyes still gold. "Okay, kiddies. Let's talk."

Coulson and Skye had withdrawn their weapons but their resolve was like jelly. She had them on the ropes. "We're listening." Coulson replied at last.

Adrianna smiled, certain that the Warriors within her made it look much more menacing. "I'm not giving up my rock." She hissed. "I don't care what protocols you have to follow, I'm not giving up this find." She leaned forward, locking eye contact with all members of the team, _These eyes are cool!_ "Since Hydra messed everything up for you guys, SHIELD has been looking for someone into the supernatural. Don't ask me how I know, I just do. _I_ need a place to study these things in relative peace. So here's my terms, I hitch a ride with you to whatever facility you guys hide in, study my rock, and become your errand girl for whatever goes bump in the night. Deal?"

"Seems fairly reasonable." Coulson cocked his shoulder. "I deny them all."

Adrianna blinked her eyes brown. "Why?"

"Because I know nothing about you and you just threatened my team. Both of these aren't my favorite attributes in interviewees."

Adrianna studied him. He had changed since they had last met. He was no longer the snot nosed agent that always had his rulebook and a change of underwear. She would have to try a different approach.

The Anubis Warriors burped and fought, making her wrap her arms around her middle, trying to keep them within. "Let me guess, you can't keep a hold on them?"

"Not really," She croaked.

"What happens if they get out?"

"They kill until they find their inflicted."

"Why should I care?"

"Because they'll come after you first until they find what they want, working backward from who they saw until they cross everyone off."

He lowered his gun slightly. "And you can't hold them?"

Adrianna shook her head, face turning green. "Nope." She rolled her eyes to him. "I can put them into something like a genie in a bottle, but it's going to have to be in a secure place where they can't see anyone but me."

Skye holstered her gun as Triplett slouched into the room holding his back, gun in hand. "Coulson," Skye breathed, "We need to take her to The Playground. These things are way too dangerous to leave here and she looks like she's going to blow chunks any second." Coulson inhaled, letting her words sink in. "C'mon, she's been right about everything, yet. What if she's telling the truth again?"

"I am telling the truth. _All_ of it."

"That's a nice plus." Triplett groaned.

Coulson nodded. "Fine, ice her."

"No, don't!" Simmons cried, stepping around them to stand in front of Adrianna, arms out.

"Why not?" Triplett demanded, "I really want to shoot her, even if it's just knocking her out for a couple hours."

"Her body is in a delicate state with those things in her. If she's unconscious, she cannot control the Anubis Warriors. Her body can still vomit though she's sleeping or, if they kill her, can control her body so that they can hide and reclaim their relics."

Skye leaned back slightly, "Someone's been watching her Doctor Who."

"I've been a bit homesick."

"Please don't say 'sick'!"

"Sorry!" Simmons cried over her shoulder, then faced forward. "So, what do you say, Director?"

Coulson inhaled. "Tripp, take her to the interrogation room, lock her in."

"She _melted_ the door?" Coulson was staring at the damage and still he couldn't believe it.

"Melted the locks clean off." Fitz explained, "She must've done it while we were distracted with the plane earlier. That's how she was able to escape."

"Well that's fitting, the one place where we can keep her and she's already broken out of it."

"Where is she now, sir?"

"Down below in the medic wing, Skye's locked her in." He turned to Fitz. "I don't care if you have to take the whole door off. Try to get it fixed, alright?"

"Yeah, definitely."

Coulson nodded to him and took off towards the medical area, passing Simmons in the lab as she began to catalogue the 084s. "Has she said anything, Skye?"

"Not really. She's looking like she's got some more control over the Warriors but, not much." Coulson stood next to her before the mostly windowed room. Adrianna sat at the edge of the bed, looking like she'd just run from a nightmare after never running before in her life. Her hair hung about her shoulders, and though she wasn't green, she was pale.

"Let me in, please." Coulson told Skye.

Skye pressed three buttons on her tablet and the doors slid open, admitting Coulson into the room. "How're you feeling?"

Adrianna looked at him. "It feels better than frostbite."

He chuckled and drew a chair to sit beside her. "You promised me a long story. It's a rather long flight to The Playground."

Adrianna stared at him for a moment, looking him up and down to see if he was worthy of her secret. She exhaled deeply, closed her eyes and looked down. Slowly, she opened her eyes and tilted her head upward to look at him, revealing incredibly bright blue eyes. She twitched her eyebrow and the door closed, leaving them in solitude and Skye nervous.

Adrianna inhaled. "A thousand years ago, the Normans recorded the last appearance of the gods and goddesses of Myth with Freya. As recompense for King Rollo settling Normandy and slaying the man who killed one of her children, she birthed to him a son and to another noble, a daughter. For centuries, the Freyason family protected the strain strictly for the uses of magic that came with being what we now know as being Asgardian. They found other offspring of the gods and arranged marriages to protect and enhance their abilities." She lifted her hand and summoned a blue flame to her fingers. "When the Nazis invaded France, Hydra searched in particular for my grandfather for his traces. They found him and… well, I'll let you use your imagination." She extinguished the flame. "He escaped and fled to Argentina, hoping that Hydra wouldn't find him.

"After the war, they received an influx of war criminals. For the betterment of the strain, he decided against keeping it pure and found a beautiful Argentine woman, determined to hide the strain in simple genetics and changing his family's appearance from traditional Nordic to Hispanic. To his wife he conceived four children and to several other mistresses a total of eight kids, his own Punnet Squares. My grandfather and his legit kids moved to Mexico to further change the appearance of the family where my dad met my mom and they emigrated to the U.S.

"Though the strain is impure, the magic still lives. Through me, it still lives." She snapped her fingers and held in the left hand a fireball, the right, a blue one. "I've gotten used to hiding my eyes so that I don't like blue ones. On me, at least. My grandfather hated seeing me like this." The flames faded. "It was like seeing blue scared him."

"I can imagine," Coulson admitted. "Hydra and the Nazis did terrible things."

"I've never used IT, magic, for anything major. In fact, I haven't used it in a while for anything other than making popcorn while watching a movie. There aren't many places where I can practice without someone's cell phone flipping out and catching me." She paused, "Another reason why I wanted to join SHEILD so bad. I can make my family proud by being alien-ish."

Coulson nodded. "I can understand that. I've sent your lab results in to SHEILD headquarters, along with my recommendation that you remain on my team. If you don't screw up, you can research your rock and every theory you can think up at The Playground."

Adrianna stared. "Really? You, you want me to stay?"

Coulson nodded. "All you had to do was ask, Adrianna. I would've agreed to let you on as a consultant before I knew about your magic. Now, I can't really let you go."

Adrianna snorted. "Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome." Adrianna opened her mouth, yet closed it. "Yes?"

"Is… is there any chance," She looked at him, her eyes pleading, "Is there any chance that I could meet Rogers? I found him, I think he should know that."

"He should know, or you should know him?"

She stared at him. "Yes."

Coulson smirked. "Nice try."

She tilted her head. "It was worth the effort."

"I'll see what I can do. He went off the grid since the Winter Soldier incident and he, kinda thinks I'm dead."

Adrianna smirked. "I figured as much." She smiled and blinked, sending her eyes back to their usual amber. "Now if you don't mind, I have a rock to study."

"Not until we get back to The Playground."

"Great."

"Yeah, and it wouldn't be right of me if I didn't give you my best secret agent impression."

Adrianna smirked and faced him fully.

Coulson's smile faded. "With a family as ancient as yours, there are bound to be a couple of secrets." Her face betrayed nothing. "I'm going to ask you now, right now, only one question. The response to this question will determine how nice a recommend letter I'll write." He stood, towering slightly over her. "Are you keeping any secrets from SHIELD that we ought to know about now?"

Adrianna swallowed, leaning away slightly. Her nails scratched the sheets for a moment, and she lifted her chin. "Yes." She breathed. "But you're not going to know about them now."

"Will they hurt my team?"

She shook her hair, her golden brown spilling onto her shoulders. "If they don't find me, they won't hurt them." She flicked her hair over her right shoulder, darting her eyes to the door.

"Why won't you tell me?"

She swallowed. "I've learned that secrets can protect people, but always come out in the end. If my demons start coming up, I'll let you know. For now, I'm keeping them close. Can you live with that?"

Coulson nodded. "If you hurt my team, I'll personally make sure you never see the light of day again."

Adrianna snorted. "Coulson, I haven't seen the light of day for eight years. Believe me, you're the last thing that scares me."

Simmons opened a briefcase and carefully removed the velvet bag box, placing it on the observation table next to the rock. "Jemma?" Fitz called, "Still cataloguing that thing?"

She smiled. "Yes, its just so fascinating! The rock alone with the iridescent lights is astounding!"

"I'll make us some coffee, and I'll help you."

"Sounds great." She turned back to the box, then back to him. "Don't put too much coffee in the filter like last time."

"You made the coffee last time!"

"No! It was you! Remember? You were drooling over the fresh scones and put too much!"

"Oh, right! Well, we don't have any scones."

"Coffee will be just fine, Ian."

"Alright, I'll be back in approximately five minutes." He trotted off, a wide grin on his face.

Simmons sighed and turned back to the box, "Let's see what you are now, shall we?" Carefully, she picked up the box and slid it from the velvet bag, revealing a long, silver box with intricate designs of Celtic knots. Excited, she picked up her spectrometer. "Your signatures are beyond anything I've seen in a long time."

From behind her a voice, cold and unbelonging, asked, "Where have you seen these signatures before?"

"These look like the records of the Battle of London and New York, especially when Lady Sif turned up last year." She set down her spectrometer and donned a pair of gloves. "Let's open it, shall we?"

"Let's."

Carefully, she placed her fingers on to top corners of the lid and lifted, feeling a thrill run down her spine as she peered inside. The inside was inlaid with faded silk and a long, thin piece of silver. "This looks like a piece of a spear."

"It's an Asgardian time piece, used by my grandfather's fiercest warriors to go back into time and eliminate threats to the mortals each time there was a time lapse."

"Really? Imagine what we could do with time jump…" She straightened, her thrill turning to fear as cold as nitrogen. "Fitz?"

"Not quite."

Shaking, Simmons turned, her eyes finding the darkest corner where a man in green and black leather jacket, black trousers, black boots, and pallid face with regal cheekbones, thin lips curled into a wicked smile, and hair like the darkest night sat, the whites of his eyes glowing as he gazed at her.

She dropped her spectrometer. "W-who are you?"

His hand danced to a lamp and he flicked it on, revealing the delightfully grim face of Loki. "Shall I make the proper introductions, or are you just going to scream?"

Simmons backed into the table, her throat emitting whimpers and her hands untamable. "Y-you're... The battle of New York. That was you!"

He stood. "I am Loki of Asgard. And yes, I've been on this pathetic rock before."

She slid away from the table, her feet bolting to the doors but she was stopped suddenly by Loki's body pressing against hers and his ivory hand covering her mouth, emerald eyes blazing into hers. "Not a word, Lady Simmons." He hissed, then kicked her with his knees until she submitted and allowed them to move to the back of the room. He flicked the lights off, making her whimper Fitz's name.

He reached into his jacket and withdrew a vial of black liquid."If you refuse to cooperate, this vial is going into the coffee of ever person on this vessel, making them die slowly and agonizing, understand?"

Simmons looked at the vial, then at him and nodded. Like he was dissolving a chunk of sand, Loki vanished the vial. "Now, that time piece was broken and hasn't worked in a very, long time. I want you," With his left hand, he unbuttoned the top button of her blouse, "To find," Second button, "The second piece." Third button. "Once that second piece is found, the rest will be fairly easy to put together."

Simmons shivered, her eyes too frightened to cry. He moved his hand to hover above her mouth. "What would stop me from telling everybody your plan?"

Loki chuckled, "Because you'll have no choice over anything you say or do from now on." He moved her shirt to the side, exposing her flesh and touched it, a blue substance moving from his finger into Simmons. She inhaled, the motion causing the substance to absorb and flow throughout her body, stopping when it recolored her eyes electric blue. He dropped his hands and stepped back. "I'll watch everything, every development you make while you go about acting like you regularly would in the presence of others."

He buttoned her shirt and grabbed her chin, Simmons didn't flinch. "Find the second piece, Lady Simmons. That is the only way I'll get out of your head." He smirked. "Repeat after me, 'It's just a hologram.'"

In a monotone, hollow voice, she repeated, "It's just a hologram."

"It's just a hologram."

"It's just a hologram."

"Shut your eyes. It's just a hologram."

Simmons obeyed, closing her eyes. Loki released her face making her bow her head. "It's just a hologram. It's just a hologram."

"Jemma?" Fitz called.

Loki turned. "You don't look like my brother."

Fitz stepped away from the room, eyes wide. "Coulson! Tripp!"

"Fitz, it's alright!" Simmons called looking up, her eyes normal. "It's just a hologram." She lifted her hand and let it go through Loki's shoulder. "See?"

"What's a hologram of Loki doing here?"

"I'm not sure." She stepped around him. "I opened the box and he stepped out." She closed the box and Loki's image disappeared. She opened it again and golden light shot out like a projector screen, showing Loki with his back to them hands clasped behind his back.

He turned and looked at them. "You don't look like my brother."

Feet pounded on the carpet and revealed Triplett, Skye, Coulson, and to the very back, Adrianna. At first, everyone stared, unable to say a word. "He's a hologram." Simmons told them. "He can't hurt us."

"Loki?" Skye asked. "Is that for real?"

"I'm merely a hologram," Loki told them. "I created it while in prison on Asgard for my brother, Thor. How it ended up in Earth, I have no idea."

"Adrianna," Coulson said, hands trying not to shake. "What's a hologram of Loki doing in your family's castle?"

"I don't know." She panted, holding her middle. "My family knows this other clan of supers. One of their sons is a realm jumper and a professional con man. He might've taken the box and stored it at the family retreat because no one goes there."

"Sounds likely." Loki replied. "And you are?"

"Don't talk to him." Coulson commanded. "Everyone outside."

"No, no. It's okay." Simmons reached through Loki's chest and flipped the box shut, making him disappear. "Just a hologram."

"Until we can confirm that, no one is to touch the box or let that hologram out, understand?"

"Not possible, Coulson."

They turned to Adrianna as she hobbled to the box. "Why?"

"Look at these markings." She turned the box to Simmons. "Nothing on earth has these."

"It's an Asgardian box," Coulson told her, "It's going to have different markings."

"Not like these." She turned to him and bore into him. "Coulson, I've seen stuff from Asgard. These are older than the stuff even Lady Sif's brought to Earth. I had a peek of SHIELD's files when you guys collapsed." She flipped open the box to let Loki come back out.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself?" Loki sighed.

"What kind of box is this?"

"An Asgardian one."

"No, this is older than the ones we've seen. This isn't an ordinary box."

"Ah, you're the clever one." He smiled, "Loki of Asgard. It's a pleasure Lady…?"

"Adrianna."

"Lady Adrianna." He turned to Coulson. "I confess. This is a hologram but this is an older box that I found as a child. The markings are a language long dead on Asgard and I have no idea what the piece of silver is. I took it, hoping that my brother would be taunted should Odin decide to give it to him." He smiled, his features full of mischief. "I guess I'll have to taunt you, Son of Coul."

"Not likely."

"Still have hard feelings?"

"You killed me!" Coulson strode to the box. "I don't care if you are a hologram, you're not taking my team."

He slammed the box shut, but before he could grab it, Adrianna snatched it away. "I know you have a lot of resentment, but this is bigger than your grudge match."

They glared at each other, entire conversations spoken in that single, intense moment. "Remember what I said about not screwing up?" He demanded.

She raised her eyebrows. "I won't."

"Be careful when you open it." Coulson warned, staring at the box. "I don't care if it's just a recorded hologram." He looked at every member of the team. "I don't want Loki in your heads. He's a trickster, and he'll manipulate you before you've even realized it." He turned to Simmons, "Did Loki say anything to you before Fitz came in?"

"He looked around, saw me and grinned. I thought it was real until I tried to push him away and my hands went through him."

"Did he say anything?"

Simmons nodded, her hands shaking. "He tried to scare me. He stopped when I figured out the truth."

Coulson turned to Adrianna, she clutched the box closer at his look. "Don't think for a second that you're safe with him. He lies, he's an expert at lying and could have just fed us a load of crap."

"I'll be careful, Coulson." Adrianna promised.

He shot her a look, his eyes filled with their previous chat.

"I promise." She repeated, her voice hard.

"I don't want him to know about what we talked about earlier."

"My end of the bag is held tightly," She straightened, "Is yours?"

He pressed his lips together and turned his heel, stalking to his office.

"So who wants to open it?" Skye asked.

Adrianna grinned. "Totally, but he's right. Loki has to be brought out sparingly."

Coulson shut the door to his room and panted against it, his hands beginning to shake. Trembling, he stumbled to his bathroom and yanked at his tie, pulling it from his neck and hastily unbuttoning his shirt to reveal the scar of the Berserker Staff through his chest. The long, diamond shaped scar that interrupted the smooth complexion of his torso, seared him to his toes and he crumpled into a tight ball on the floor. "It's just a hologram." He sobbed. "It's just a hologram."

Honfleur, Normandy, France

Pierre watched the giant airplane leave with the help of three local tractors. He had received the distress call that it issued and lied about sending help just like he had been taught as a boy when he began working for Famille Freyason. As soon as it disappeared in the clouds, he shuffled from his post before twelve monitors, took his cane, and walked down the hall to where the secure phone line was housed.

He swallowed, unlocking the door with his silver key that only appeared whenever he needed it, and pressed his wrinkled thumb to the pad, admiring his wrinkles in the green light of the scanner. Seven more wrinkles since last time.

_"__Prennez votre nom."_ A female voice commanded.

"Pierre Auguste Montpellier."

_"__Qui voulez vous parler?"_

"Fenris Thor Freyason."

_"__Un minute, s'il vous plait."_

He waited, listening to a very good saxophone rendition of "Claire de la Lune", ignoring his bad leg until a velvet voice answered. "Yes?"

"Maitre Freyason," Pierre told him cursing at the phlegm that built in his throat for a moment, "I've seen your sister."

There was a pause. "She was in France?"

"Oui, Maitre. Only for a moment. I'll send you the video if you'll let me."

"Send it to the Monaco email address. Thank you, Pierre."

"You're welcome, Maitre."

Pierre hobbled back to his monitors, the machines turning on the moment he walked in. On the bottom center monitor, video of Adrianna fighting with the Anubis Warrior was playing and continued as Pierre typed in a specific email address. _"Je suis trés desolee, Maitress."_ He sighed.

Then hit send.

_TBC_

_Please Review!This is the beginning of my fan fiction series. Have fun!_

Chapter 1: Strategic

_Beginning_

_The moon drops one or two feathers into the field. _

_The dark wheat listens._

_Be still._

_Now._

_There they are, the moon's young, trying_

_Their wings._

_Between trees, a slender woman lifts up the lovely shadow_

_Of her face, and now she steps into the air, now she is gone_

_Wholly, into the air._

_I stand alone by an elder tree, I do not dare breathe_

_Or move._

_I listen._

_The wheat leans back toward its own darkness,_

_And I lean toward mine._

_-James Wright_

Skye stretched as she made her way through The Bus, trying to flex her muscles from the usual soreness accompanied with a night of flying through a thunder storm. "Morning, Skye." Fitz yawned, stepping out of his room. "You'd think Thor was about last night."

Skye smiled and dropped her arms. "You'd think our new friends at NASA would've hooked us up with seatbelts for our beds."

"Tell me about it." He exhaled, his face freezing like it usually did when he was nervous. "What do you think they want from us?"

"Well, Coulson seemed pretty optimistic."

"We could use some optimistic." Triplett told them, exhaling with a cup of coffee in hand. "I'm tired of being shot at."

"Join the club." Skye tilted her head, longing for a cup of coffee. "Any ideas of what NASA could want?"

"Nah, but I'm sure it's big." He sipped his coffee. "Why else would they want the world's rejects?"

"Hey, we're not rejects!" Fitz ground his face. "We might be homeless, but at least we're coming together."

"Yeah, but NASA's just as big as SHIELD used to be." Triplett told him, gesturing with his cup. "They wouldn't want spies and specialists around if they didn't want to get their hands dirty."

"Well, we're not going to find out from here." Skye interjected, watching Fitz fight for the last word. "Let's go find out what the space cadets want."

They walked down the hall like cattle after a large feed. Fitz wore a brown sweater vest and blue long sleeve shirt to match nicely pressed blue trousers, his shoes closed toe and comfortable for this engineer. Skye let her hair loose and wavy about her shoulders, her favorite hairstyle. She wore a loose purple shirt with a black vest jacket, tight jeans, and black shoes. Her wrists wore two bracelets each and her black nail polish was pushed back against the nail from using keyboards for hours on end. At last, Triplett followed with a black and grey shirt that clung close to his body, cargo trousers, and boots laced tightly in case of a fight.

As they entered the conference room, Skye detoured to the bar where she promptly took a paper cup and the coffee pot, pouring herself magical wake-up juice. "Morning!" Simmons smiled, coming from the direction of the lab and pulling off black gloves. She wore her hair back in a long ponytail and her white lab coat. Beneath that coat was a long sleeved green shirt printed with white flowers and khaki trousers, along with closed toe "lab designated" black shoes.

Each person issued a less-than-enthusiastic, "Good morning."

"Don't you all sound cheery." Coulson smirked, entering the conference room in his usual pristine suit and tie. "Well, I'm sure you've all been wondering what's been going on with NASA."

"That's putting it nicely." Triplett scoffed, drinking more coffee.

Colson tilted his head, "Right. Since SHIELD is no longer the organization that it used to be, we are scrambling to find who we can for funds to put us back in business. One of those organizations is NASA."

"So we're NASA's errand boys?" Skye asked, joining the conference table.

"In a nutshell." Coulson told her. "Every time we get something for them that they otherwise wouldn't, they contribute to our reputation."

"They pay SHIELD to be spies?" Triplett asked, narrowing his gaze.

"Yes. We need money for our missions and to put our organization back on the map. Thankfully, most of the agents that were stationed at NASA during the good old days weren't Hydra, so that's a big plus."

"Yay!" Skye sipped and gave a thumbs up. "So something should be normal."

"Yes, if you accept that we'll be getting our orders from NASA as well as SHEILD."

"So, we're getting orders from NASA as well as from you?" Fitz asked.

"I'm in." Skye told him. "If it keeps us in business."

"Same here." Simmons added.

"Me too." Fitz replied, looking to Simmons.

"Hell, I'm in." Triplett exhaled, crossing his arms. "So what's our first errand?"

Coulson smiled and stood taller. "Memphis, Egypt. We have an 084."

"Remind me again what an 084 is?" Triplett asked, tossing another magazine into his weapons case.

"An 084 is an unknown substance." Skye told him, tying her hair back and grabbing her backpack of electronics. "It's basically something abnormal that no one knows what it is and we have to go and find it and figure it out."

"So we have no idea what this thing is?"

"Not a clue." May told him, walking into the room. "Expect anything from an Egyptian relic to something Asgardian that explodes."

"Egyptian relics can't explode?"

May shot him a look. "Be ready for anything."

Triplett turned back to Skye. "I'm gonna need a bigger case."

She laughed, then slung her backpack over her shoulder and followed Fitz and Simmons as they argued over a particular device NASA had given them. "Look at this!" Fitz pointed, "I have done better in my first year at the Academy than this!"

"We're not SHIELD with the funds and comfy laboratories anymore, Fitz!" Simmons told him. "This is the best we have to work with!"

"If we didn't have to go right now I could upgrade it within an hour!"

Skye shook her head and followed them into the black Suburban with the SHIELD seal spray painted off. May waited for all members of the team to be buckled up and doors shut before starting the car. "This feels good." Coulson smiled, looking at her from the passenger seat. "Feels like we belong somewhere."

He caught the slightest glimpse of a smile before she put the car into gear and reversed them onto the shifting sands of the Sahara.

Skye watched as rolling sand dune after rolling sand dune passed them by, an occasional camel appearing every few miles. "I always thought Egypt was a magical place." She sighed. "I didn't realize how much desert there was."

Simmons turned and smiled. "In ancient Egypt, the palaces were like beacons against the dry sand. They could be seen for miles around."

"And, there could be magic in one of these temples." Fitz added, also turning to Skye. "Now that we know it's possible."

"Magic is just science that we don't understand, Fitz." Simmons faced forward.

"It'd be cool to see if the Book of the Dead was really something magical."

"I'm not too thrilled about mummies coming back from the dead." Triplett told them, staring out his window. "I saw those movies."

Simmons opened her mouth to retort but Fitz cut her off. "We're close!"

"How close?" Coulson asked, turning around to look at him.

"We're… about fifteen minutes away."

"Coulson." May called, forcing him to tear his gaze away and look forward.

They were driving into an archaeological dig site.

On both sides, long shirted diggers, and short sleeved and jeaned archaeologists moved about like ants at a sugar mound. "This is going to be fun." Coulson exhaled. "How close Fitz?"

"We're probably going to have to get out and walk." Fitz told him, eyes glued to his device. "It looks like its in a tomb, or tent, or something."

"What do you mean by something?" Triplett asked, leaning over the back of Fitz's seat.

"I'm getting a lot of interference." He scooted forward, acting like he was trying to get better reception. "The 084 probably hasn't been dug up yet."

May rolled down her window and talked quickly with a digger in Arabic. He didn't seem too pleased that they were driving through a sacred dig site, but pointed them in a direction where they could park. "We're going to have to walk." May told them.

"How far?" Skye asked peering over Triplett's shoulder.

May turned the steering wheel. "It's going to be a hike."

A mile away, she parked. "Take water." Coulson commanded, removing his seatbelt. "I don't want anyone fainting from the heat."

There was a scramble to get bags and water bottles, followed by a nearly silent descent from the car, (Fitz and Simmons were arguing about which other devices to take and which would melt in the car or their backpacks).

"Lead the way, Fitz." Coulson commanded, beads of sweat already forming on his forehead.

Fitz stared at his monitor, then started to move his legs to the right. Triplett rushed to his shoulders in time to stop him from running into a tractor. "You lead and I'll tell you when to go or not go."

Fitz shot him a repulsed look, but stayed silent and continued on. Skye looked around the desert dig site, watching as people caked in dust and mud soldiered through the scorching heat, trying to piece together the remnants of a lost civilization. The sun was unrelenting, causing sweat to fight its way through the forest of Skye's hair to her neck, absorbing in her collar. By the time they made it to the main dig sight, each person had drunk up to half their water bottles.

"Are we almost there yet, Fitz?" Coulson asked, tugging at his tie. "It feels like we stepped into a sauna."

"Almost there." Fitz called over his shoulder, sweat pouring down his sides.

"How hot is it?" Simmons complained, wiping her forehead with a handkerchief.

"I'd say about one hundred ten degrees." May commented. "Not including ground temperature."

Skye lifted her hair, trying to take advantage of a slight breeze. "No wonder Ancient Egyptians are half naked in their drawings." She looked around at everyone in their long sleeves and sweaters, watching them sweat more than her.

"I don't know about you guys," Coulson exhaled, unbuttoning his top button. "But I'm first in a cold shower after this." He turned to May. "How about you?"

"I'm in the cockpit by myself." She told him. "No one complains about my smell."

"It's around here, guys!" Fitz cried, lifting his head. "I'm getting massive readings!"

A plump man in a blue Hawaiian shirt and jeans came up to them, eyes glued on Coulson. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Agent Coulson of SHIELD." Coulson stopped while the team kept walking, producing a badge from his coat pocket. "We've received word that there is a possible alien technology signature coming from one of your dig areas."

The man read the badge, front to back, before looking up. "Well, I don't know what could be giving it off. We've pulled nothing but rocks and broken relics from the last tomb we opened."

"My man is confident that there's something here. If you let us, we'll see what it is and be on our merry way."

Skye tried to keep her eyes on the mission, but couldn't help but think, _We're halfway to appropriating already._

"What do you mean by 'see what it is'?"

Instantly, the team picked up their pace. "We at SHIELD will need to appropriate any alien relics left behind in case of radioactive signatures or other effects. We'll only take the one thing, don't worry."

"But what if this alien relic has something to do with the advancement of the Egyptian civilization?"

They walked faster towards a tent that Fitz was nearly trotting toward, leaving Coulson and the man out of listening range. They knew that they would be able to hear the conversation in a few moments. "Its here!" Fitz hollered. "Among these rocks."

"Let's find it and get out." Triplett advised. "Coulson's getting an audience."

"Tripp," May called. "Let them find the 084."

Triplett nodded and followed her back to Coulson's side where a number of archaeologists were starting to perk up. "Alright guys," Fitz told them. "Let's find this thing."

The area beneath the tent was a blue plastic tarp held down by a number of rocks of all sizes. Some were smooth with plaster designs of Ancient Egyptians in their finest linens, others were just… rocks. Skye and Simmons attacked the closest rocks, trying to find identifying marks that weren't from Earth.

"How about this one?" Skye asked, holding up a bowling ball sized rock with a cartouche on the side, some of the characters not what she had seen in a quick internet search on The Bus.

Fitz leaned his device closer and shook his head. "No, not that one."

"Though that cartouche is quite interesting." Simmons smiled, turning over a tennis ball sized rock. "You should leave it facing up so the archaeologists can see it."

Skye did as she was told and continued on. "Simmons, what did you just do?" Fitz demanded, raising his arm to reveal a dark spot on his armpit.

"Nothing, I just stepped here." She placed her left leg near her right and moved it around a milk jug tall, foot wide rock.

"That's the one!"

The women looked at the rock, half covered in hardened soil and smooth on one side as though it were a part of a doorframe. "That's the one?" Skye asked, turning to Fitz. "That looks like it fell off a mountain."

"I'm getting strong signatures off of it. Signatures like when we found the Asgardian staff…" He looked up. "We've found something from Asgard."

"Are you sure?" Simmons asked, running to his side to look at the monitor.

"Please tell me you found something?" Coulson asked, striding to them as the other archaeologists conversed behind him, a child running to another tent.

"We're getting massive Asgardian signatures." Simmons told him, stepping aside to show him. "This is definitely alien."

"Pack it up and let's go before we have-"

"Agent Coulson!"

They all turned in time to see a petite Hispanic woman with brown hair tied in a tight bun atop her head, brown eyes, tight filthy black shirt with Captain America's shield printed across the breast, jeans that once were blue but were now caked with mud, and steel toed hiking boots. Coulson flung his head to the team. "Pack up, now!"

He had barely turned back to the woman when he saw her fist catapult into his cheek. "Sup? Remember me?"

She jerked her left hand back in time for May to catch it and push her back.

The woman was not deterred. "You _stole_ my iceman!"

"Appropriated!" Coulson corrected, clutching his hand to his cheek and spitting out a wad of blood. "You had better not knocked out my filling!"

"Oh, I can do more than that!" She planted her feet and attempted to launch herself at him had Triplett not caught her waist, twirl her around and shove her back so that she slipped to a knee.

"You're not taking my rock!" She screamed, jumping to her boots. "This one is mine!"

"We need to appropriate anything of alien technology to keep it from getting in the wrong hands, Miss Saldivar." Coulson told her, standing erect as Simmons and Skye threw the rock into a backpack.

"Oh yeah, like Hydra?"

"How do you know about that?" Triplett asked, bending his knees into a quick action stance.

"Coulson should know. Freggin' SHIELD's shut me down two hundred and nineteen times!"

"That was part of our agreement, Miss Saldivar." Coulson stepped out of the shade to come to Triplett's side. "We paid you for your cooperation and in return, you never mention the incident again."

"'Paid me for my cooperation?'" Miss Saldivar demanded. "I was fighting stage two frost bite up to my butt when you put that money in my account and hauled off my iceman! I didn't get a say in anything!"

"You're actually complaining about three million dollars?"

"Yes, I am! Because that's all I got was the money I didn't want. No recognition that I nearly died, not even a freggin' medal from the President for finding Truman's pet soldier, nothing! I can't even change Wikipedia without you guys shutting me down."

"The world's not ready for your name to be exposed, Miss Saldivar." Coulson told her, his tenor lowering to compassionate. "Believe me, it's better to remain anonymous."

"The world's not ready, or you're not ready to tell Captain Rogers who really pulled him from the ice?"

Everyone within a hearing distance froze.

Miss Saldivar stared at him, fuming with disgust. "It might have been SHIELD's logo on the crane that picked him up, but it was my compass and my equipment that led me to these." She attacked her neck to withdraw tarnished dog tags in the style of a World War II soldier.

Skye's eyes shot to Triplett in time to see him lean forward with intrigue. Those tags were the real deal.

Coulson looked at the dulled metal glinting in the unrelenting sun. "I was the one who suggested you keep those. To let them remind you that you do indeed matter."

"Thanks for the memento." She dropped the tags and cocked her brow. "I sure do _appreciate _it." She glared at him, amber eye meeting chocolate. "You're not, taking, my rock."

"What makes it yours?"

"I felt the signatures first. I saw the markings and identified them before six of my team nearly died in a tomb collapse. That makes me have first dibs."

Coulson nodded. "Unfortunately, SHIELD doesn't do dibs. So, you're out of luck." He turned back to Fitz, Skye and Simmons. "Let's go."

Skye hadn't even blinked when she saw May catch Miss Saldivar and fling her onto her back. Miss Saldivar rolled on the dirt, grabbed a handful of sand and rock, and pull herself up to launch around Triplett to reach for Coulson. Triplett caught her arm and twisted it back, making her stagger to her knees before May who her withdrawn gun.

Fitz, Simmons, and Skye jumped from the tarp, Skye with the rock backpack on her shoulders.

"That's my rock, Coulson!" Miss Saldivar screamed. "I'm going to get it back!"

"Sure you will." Coulson muttered, not looking back.

"So, she was the one who found Captain America?" Fitz asked as they tumbled out of the Suburban in the bowels of The Bus, (they had all been too hot and exhausted on the ride back to talk much).

"Way back when." Coulson replied, pulling off his red tie. "She and some archaeologist buddies were looking around the Arctic Circle for Nordic relics. She wanted to get ahead and went alone. When they found her, she was half dead and clutching in one hand those dog tags, and the other, Cap's hand that she dug to find. The way her friends described it, it seemed like Cap had grasped her hand as well."

"That's a little freaky." Skye swallowed, adjusting the rock backpack. "So SHIELD just paid her off and that's it?"

"Yep. Most of the team thought she would die either way. It got real awkward when she pulled through without so much as a scratch."

"So, what do we do with this?" Simmons asked as Skye dropped the backpack onto the ramp, May closing it before slipping to the cockpit.

"Run some diagnostics, make sure it doesn't have anything harmful." Coulson told her, swallowing and stepping close to the water faucet. "Then box it up for NASA."

"I can definitely go for a massage." Skye sighed, rubbing her shoulders. "Or a chiropractor."

Fitz took a rock backpack strap. "It's not that heavy… good Lord that's thick!"

"Told you, Fitz." Simmons smiled, following him into the lab.

The Bus shuddered with life and each person in their place held onto the first solid surface they could find as the vessel became airborne. Butterflies that used to occupy Skye's stomach when she first joined the team fluttered to her throat. She pressed her back to the wall and crossed her arms over her middle, trying to dispel this feeling for something she had done many times before.

But, it couldn't be shaken.

She touched her lips, feeling them to be chapped and longing for cool water. As soon as The Bus was stabilized, she traipsed to the lounge to take a cool bottle of water from the fridge, praying this wronged feeling would leave the pit of her stomach.

The back of the Suburban opened with the emergency hatch. Slowly, Adrianna Saldivar slithered from the vehicle, hand on the door so that Fitz and Simmons wouldn't notice anything over their study of her rock.

Adrianna crouched on the ramp, watching the scientists while holding the door. She backed away so that she was mostly hidden by the vehicle and lifted her free right hand. From the center of her palm, a blue sparkling light emitted. Gently she pressed the light to the door and slammed it shut, not a sound emitting in the echoing room.

She stood, eyes locked on Fitz and Simmons. She stepped around the car and vanished before she came around the hood.

"Run the diagnostics again, Jemma."

"There's no need to, Fitz!" Simmons removed her goggles and looked at him. "We know these are Asgardian signatures."

"These can't be right though. Look at them!" He handed her a report with many statistics and graphs on it. "These are not even close to the signatures our past finds have given us. Its like, there's something missing."

"What could be missing?"

"I don't know. But in my opinion there's something missing from these readings."

"You think there's something else like this rock out there somewhere?"

He shrugged. "There could be."

"How do we know for sure?"

"We can't, really. I mean, unless this has a message from whoever sent it that this rock has a mate somewhere-"

"Hey, guys!" Skye poked her head in, hanging onto the doorframe. "Coulson wants you guys in his office, we're getting to land soon."

"We can tell him about there possibly being another rock." Simmons suggested, moving around the table to the door.

Fitz nodded, following her and turning to Skye. "Did he say what he wanted to talk to us about?"

"No mention. But, he seemed pretty optimistic."

They shrugged and walked off, leaving Skye alone in the lab. She watched them leave, making sure they hadn't forgotten anything, before looking to the rock and stepping forward. Instantly, her entire appearance morphed into Adrianna's form.

Adrianna cocked her brow, then rushed to the table to collect her rock.

"Hey, Fitz!" Triplett called, turning the corner, "Have you fixed…" He stopped when he saw Adrianna, rock halfway in the backpack. "What are you doing here?"

Adrianna stared at him, then grabbed the backpack and flung it upward just as Triplett charged her. The rock smacked him on the temple, sending him crashing to the carpet in an unconscious heap. Adrianna juggled the rock several times before catching and shoving it into the backpack.

"Skye, I told you, don't joke with us like that!" Simmons' voice echoed down the hall.

"I'm telling you guys, I didn't call you!"

Adrianna shouldered the backpack and vanished, the illuminated research table moving as though someone was climbing it.

Fitz, Skye, and Simmons entered the lab, the three of them halting the moment they saw Triplett on the ground. "Tripp!" Skye screamed, rushing to him alongside Simmons and followed by Fitz.

"Call Coulson!" Simmons cried over her shoulder.

The sounds of Fitz's feet against the floor echoed along with his shouts of Coulson's name. Using their combined strengths, Skye and Simmons pushed Triplett to his side, revealing a stream of blood leaking from his temple. Skye turned to Simmons, "What do you need?"

"Get me my flashlight! He might have a concussion."

Skye jumped up and faced the table, looking for a small green flashlight that she'd seen several times before. She saw it, at the other end of the table. Instantly, Skye punched her hand over the surface with the intention to grab it, but instead jammed her hand into something solid.

Something fell, crashing on the other side of the table. "Damn, that hurt!"

Skye grabbed the flashlight and threw it down to Simmons, walking around the table. She started at the sight of Adrianna, writhing in pain from her descent and landing on the rock backpack. "DC!" Skye screamed, hastening the thundering of three more sets of footsteps.

Skye withdrew her gun, pointing it at Adrianna's chest. "She was invisible and I punched her legs on the table and she was here!" She told Coulson as he entered.

Coulson stood beside her, his gun also drawn. "What do you mean by 'invisible'?"

"Like, completely gone, then she was here!"

Adrianna pushed the straps off her shoulders and rolling to her chest. Coulson turned to Simmons. "How's Tripp?"

"He'll live." She called over the table edge, her feet the only thing visible.

"Well, Miss Saldivar." Coulson purred, looking sideways at Adrianna. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Adrianna looked up at them, arching her back to stretch. "I saw that going a bit differently in my mind."

Miss Saldivar sat, arms crossed, back against the chair, and eyes cemented to a particular spot on the metal table in front of her. Simmons had checked her for broken or bruised ribs but found nothing. "Not even traces of frostbite?" Coulson asked, looking at Adrianna through the monitors.

Simmons shook her head. "Nope, not even that."

"Something's not adding up here." Coulson frowned. "If she was a super, she would have been on SHIELD's list."

"Still waiting for that one to open." Skye told him, tapping away on a tablet. "Adrianna Saldivar is on the FBI's watch list as apart of SHIELD's watch list but mostly because of her brother, Alfredo Saldivar who also goes by Fenris Freyason." She showed him side-by-side pictures of Adrianna and a Hispanic man with brown cropped hair, blue eyes, pale features, and a menacing smile that stung Coulson's chest. "He's on the terrorist watch list."

"What's he done?"

"Armed robbery, extortion, grand larceny, you name it he's done it."

Coulson nodded. "So, this guy likes to roll big?"

Skye nodded, "Oh yeah."

"So why's his sister in a desert playing in dirt that can kill her?"

"I don't know." Skye returned to her tablet. "She's a registered archaeologist. Her name's on several digs in both South America and Europe, Egypt was a first for her. As far as I can see, she hasn't been near her brother in years."

"That still doesn't explain how I got this bump on my head." Tripp told them, watching them from a chair off to the side. "How'd she get in here?"

"I don't know." Skye told him. "I've been watching the security footage for an hour and I can't see anything except the trunk door opening. We should have seen her get out of the car for her size, but there's nothing."

"Invisibility is quite the fun feature." Coulson smirked. "Let's go find out how she got on our plane." He crossed the lounge and into the interrogation room, watching her as she didn't so much as flinch at the sound of the door opening.

He towered over her, watching her bore holes into the table. "So, how'd you get into our car?"

Nothing. He had to do a double take to make sure she was breathing.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Miss Saldivar. The easy way is you tell me what I ask and the hard ways is, well… I'll let you use your imagination."

Exhale. Inhale.

"I'll try again. What is so special about this rock that you boarded a government aircraft to get it back?"

Inhale. Exhale.

"Strike two, Miss Saldivar. Shall we go for strike three?"

His eyes began to itch waiting for hers to blink.

"Alright then." He turned his heel and left the interrogation room. "Who is she?" He said as soon as the door was closed. "I need to know everything."

Skye nodded and immediately stared tapping the tablet. "On it."

"What are you getting at, Phil?" May asked, arms crossed.

"She's not doing anything." He looked back at the monitor overlooking the interrogation room. "When I interrogated Thor, he did the same thing. It's an Asgardian trait to not flinch in the face of adversity. She also said she felt the rock and claimed it as hers."

Tripp looked at him. "So you're saying that she's Asgardian?"

"She might be." He turned to Skye. "Anything?"

"I'm not sure." She frowned, "She has three aliases, Sylvie Lushton, Helen Eve, and Adrianna Saldivar. Among many others, these are the most popular."

"Which is the one she's used the least, like once or twice?"

Skye scrolled through the file, eyes whisking about the screen to find what Coulson was asking for. "One name she's used three times, Sigyn Freyason." She looked up at him. "That's the FBI connection with her brother."

"That name, Freyason. What's it's deal?"

She tapped away for moments. "It just appeared in the last decade from Miss Saldivar and her brother." She looked at Coulson. "What do you think is her real name?"

"Let's find out." He turned his heel. "Keep looking for anything you can on her."

Coulson reentered the interrogation room. Again, she didn't so much as flinch. "Hello, Sigyn."

Her eyes lifted and she turned an Exorcist-like face to him. "Only my kin calls me that. _Close_ kin."

"So what shall we call you?"

She inhaled, taking in his every feature. "Adrianna is fine."

He took a seat across from her. "So, do you want to tell us how you made it onto our plane?"

"Not really, no."

"I had no idea you were built for invisibility."

"There's a lot about me that I've taken great pains to hide from guys like you."

"And yet, you've risked it all on a rock."

"Some things are worth melting for."

"Such as what?"

She looked at him. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Depends on what you know."

"Not much. I just felt the magic coming from it and had to grab it."

"Tell us and we won't put you away for entering a government facility."

She exhaled, a twitch on her lips like a smirk. "Shiver."

"I'll make you a deal." She looked at him. "If you tell us, I might let you in on the study team."

"Might?"

"Depends on what you tell us."

"It has Asgardian markings and signatures."

"That we don't already know."

"You didn't know about the markings, _that_ I can tell."

"How?"

"Because you can only see them in the dark without light on them. The tomb was the perfect place to see them once my flashlight was turned off."

"What else?"

"That tomb was sealed nearly five thousand years ago." She paused, measuring him for his knowledge about history, then placed her elbows on the table. "That rock, the plaster on one of the sides, is common with two thousand year old tombs. What's a two thousand year old rock doing in a five thousand year old tomb?"

"Are you sure it's two thousand years old?"

"Positive. The science wasn't around five thousand years ago because of lack of trade and funds. The plaster was introduced by early Greek traders and only available to kings and nobility three thousand years ago. That quality plaster was painted on two thousand years ago after much perfection and science."

Coulson nodded. "How were you able to get that out of what, thirty minutes, in that tomb?"

"I'm not telling you all my secrets, Coulson." She leaned back into her chair and extended her arms. "Let's just say, I'm that good for now and work back from there."

Coulson cocked his brow. "Right. Now let's get down to the consequences of your assaulting and attempt to steal on government property."

Adrianna snorted and looked away.

"Am I amusing you?"

"Yeah," She turned to him, "A bit."

"How so?"

She smirked and stared, saying nothing.

Coulson nodded. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back."

"No promises."

He turned his heel and walked out of the room, eyes too focused to hear the door close or not. "Talk to me Skye."

"She's on SHIELD's watch _and_ supers list." She showed him her tablet with Adrianna's mug shot. "They rated her a level four, whatever that means."

"Supers were rated on a five point scale, five being the most lethal or unstable. Four is not comforting."

Tripp peered around the tablet. "Why'd she earn a four?"

Skye turned the tablet around. "It says she's fond of fires, but not if she's an arsonist or can conjure it with her mind." She showed them a surveillance video of Adrianna walking through a wall of fire and jumping into a black van.

Coulson nodded. "Who are they?"

"No idea, but one has been identified as someone called 'The Executioner'. No real names, though." Skye looked back at the screen. "This guy's like the terminator. Pops up every now and then, raises all kinds of hell, then disappears."

The plane lurched sideways, causing each person to slide to the right side of The Bus. "What's happening?" Coulson cried, nearly crashing into the bar.

Fitz latched onto the couch, holding on for dear life. "What's May doing?"

Simmons, disoriented atop Skye, rolled onto the carpet to better gain her bearings. "I highly doubt this is May!"

"Then who is it?" Skye demanded, nearly avoiding getting kicked by Simmons in the face.

The intercom whistled near their heads as the plane leveled, bottles of water shooting to the other side of the floor. "Are you guys alright?" May's voice called. "I'm not controlling the plane!"

Coulson stood to shaking feet. "Then who is?"

"Could it be Adrianna?" Triplett asked, also rising.

"Adrianna is not in the interrogation room." May announced. "She's loose on the plane."

Coulson swallowed. "She could just be invisible."

"No, Phil. She's gone. The door was never closed properly and she slipped out."

"How's that possible?" Fitz cried, "That interrogation room is state of the art! We can put the queen in there and she'd be perfectly safe!"

"Find her!" Coulson shouted. "May, where are we going?"

"We're flying out of aviation laws, it can be anywhere."

Coulson rushed to the cockpit, latching onto a light fixture when the plane lurched again, this time downward.

"Phil! Are you okay?"

Coulson spread his legs between the opening of a door and a doorframe, stopping his sliding. "More or less!"

"We seem to be heading towards Europe." May grunted as though she were also trying to stop gravity from flinging her around. "I'll inform you as we get closer to a location."

"Good!"

The plane leveled, but Coulson pressed his back to the floor for moments just in case. He hoisted himself to his feet and looked around as Skye rounded the other side of the hall, looking flustered. "We found Adrianna."

"Where is she?"

"In the lab. She's locked herself in with the rock."

Adrianna stood in a pile of broken vials and cocktail of different colored liquids. She had stepped in worse before, she wasn't going to squeal now.

Coulson jumped into view followed by Skye. "What are you doing, Adrianna?"

She looked up from the rock. "Trying to figure out what the hell this thing's doing!"

"You mean you're not doing it?"

"Coulson, why would I wreak a plane with me on it? Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it!"

Fitz banged on the glass doors. "Open the door, let us help!"

"Can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"I think this rock is guarded by an Anubis warrior."

There was absolute silence for several moments.

"A _what_?" They demanded in unison.

Adrianna turned the rock over, scanning the plaster. "When I saw it in the tomb, the incandescent lights had what looked like a warning about this rock. This would be the first time I've seen an Anubis warrior out of a pharaoh's tomb."

"Why out of a pharaoh's tomb?" Simmons asked, frowning.

Adrianna looked up. "I don't have my comfy lab or time to answer that."

"Forget about that." Triplett scoffed, grabbing onto a safety net as the plane began to tilt again. "You've seen _another_ Anubis warrior?"

"Yep! Nasty jackals if I've ever… seen… one!" The Bus turned a sharp right, the team flying to the wall whilst Adrianna slid with her rock crushed to her chest to the wall and walked on it, still trying to read what only she could see on the plaster.

"What's it doing to my plane?" Coulson yelled, trying to look at Adrianna from over the jumbled and squirming bodies.

"I don't know! I think it's looking for it's other half!"

"You see," Fitz grunted, "I told you!"

"Where's it's other half?"

Adrianna looked at him, her feet planted between a microscope and collection of red rubber vial caps. "Really, that's your question? Where? I can barely read this thing because of all the light and you want a coordinate plane of where we're going to land?"

"That'd be nice!"

"We're going to where the rock or warrior wants! Now stop asking questions until I figure this thing out!"

The Bus began to level and Adrianna sat to press her back against the wall that was her floor, her legs above her to rest upon cabinets. Moments later, the team was tumbling to the original floor and Adrianna, right side up with her rock on her lap. She jumped off the counter she sat upon and started flicking off the lights. "I need absolute darkness." She grumbled. "I can't read them like this."

"You said you can feel the energy coming off that rock." Skye gasped, standing to wobbling feet. "Can you tell where it's taking us?"

"That's what I've been doing the last ten minutes, I can't get a read on it." The room was darkened, but not what would be considered absolute. "Europe, for sure. But Manchester, Stockholm, Normandy, or Vienna, I can't tell."

"Phil!" May's voice called. "Phil, we're heading for Normandy."

Adrianna scoffed. "That narrows things."

Triplett hoisted Simmons to her feet. "Why Normandy?"

"Because the Vikings landed there and there is still a strong presence in certain villages." Adrianna called, throwing a fire blanket over her head and the rock.

Coulson looked at her. "Vikings meaning Asgard?"

She poked her head out from the blanket. "You bet!" Then disappeared.

"May! I'm coming to the cockpit. Try to find a tarmac that doesn't want to shoot us down!"

"Then you'd better get up here quick!"

Coulson bolted, pounding down the halls as quickly as possible to the cockpit before the Bus turned again. He burst through the door, finding May seated in the pilot's seat fighting the steering wheel as though she were a body builder trying a new set of weights. "What's been happening?"

"I've been fighting this for nearly thirty minutes straight!" She winced, blood streaming from her nose and beneath her hair. "Bus has a mind of her own."

"Where are we headed?"

"I don't know. We're heading fast for the ocean, though."

A light on May's panel of gages and meters brightened beneath a blank screen. "Answer that for me, Coulson."

He touched the screen in time to see Adrianna's sweating face before him. "Hello?"

"I think I know where we're going."

"Where?" May demanded.

"There's a castle in Honfleur right near the beach that might be where my rock illustrates."

May grit her teeth. "Does it have an open field?"

"Yeah, right next to it."

"Good." May reached above her to jab a particular button. "Everybody take a seat! It's going to be a rough landing!"

The screen faded and Coulson traipsed to the copilot's seat, frantically grabbing his seatbelt to fasten it. The device had barely clicked when he looked up to see an ocean of green grass rush the windshield. His stomach flipped as the Bus touched ground, making the two people in the cockpit leave their seats for a moment before crashing back to the leather. May gripped the wheel and applied the breaks, cursing in Chinese as the Bus refused to slow. Flowers of all colors glossed the surface of the windshield, along with dirt, rocks, a bird, and a wooden cart.

Coulson inhaled as slowly, just beyond the green, the Atlantic Ocean reared its siren-like head. "May!"

She bared her teeth and screamed, the vessel coming to a halt just as the nose hung over a rock face. They stared out the windshield in absolute silence, two elderly men in a sailboat staring up at them. Coulson inhaled. "Bonjour."

Skye exhaled deeply as did the rest of the team. They had strapped into their seats against the walls at the plane's rear, right outside the doors of the lab. Adrianna had refused to come out of the lab despite the dangers. She instead shoved her rock into a cabinet, taped it shut, then crawled under the sink with her back to one end and her feet to another to provide a human cradle net.

The plane had rocked and shook, making each person question their lunch choices. All at once, they had stopped and felt a rush of peace as their world settled back into their rightful places. Skye looked around, a smile blooming. "We made it."

"That or we're already dead!" Fitz winced, his eyes pinched shut.

Simmons smiled. "Oh, Fitz! We're okay!"

_BANG!_

They all looked to the lab doors to see the 084 rock shoot from the taped cabinet out into the lab, rolling like a soccer ball. Adrianna looked at it, extending her palm as though she were testing a stove for heat. She dropped her hand and sprinted to the lab doors, punching the yellow lock button to open them. No sooner had the doors opened was the rock twisting around again.

Triplett unfastened his seat belt to stride to her. Adrianna's eyes widened. "Get out of-"

The rock shot out of the lab, narrowly missing Triplett's head before he dove out of the way, and slammed into…

They all stared, wide eyed, hardly breathing, as they saw the rock land into the awaiting arms of a seven foot tall, half man, half jackal wearing the headdress of a pharaoh that sparkled with jewels in the dim light. Its fingers could have curled completely around the rock, but it cupped it in it's palms like a sacred relic.

"That," Adrianna panted, staring it down, "Is an Anubis Warrior."

Each of the team stared, unable to speak.

"Don't. Move."

The Anubis Warrior wore a kilt of fine linen trimmed in gold and had legs of a prize winning bodybuilder. Its figure was lean, chest wide, and wore a pectoral shaped like falcons wings with a ruby in the center. The head that protruded from the headdress was as black as slate with a long snout and eyes just as black. It adjusted the rock, looking this way and that. Then looked at the team and Adrianna.

And curled its lips back to reveal dentures worse than a rabid Rottweiler.

And _roared!_

Simmons and Fitz were the first into the lab while Triplett and Skye drew their guns at it. "Don't shoot it!" Adrianna screamed. "Just open the ramp!"

Triplett scoffed. "The hell I'm opening it!"

"Do not shoot it in here! That is a sacred walking god corpse, you'll piss it off!"

Adrianna stepped between Skye and Triplett, arms out. "Let me talk to it. Skye, _slowly_ make your way to the switch that opens the ramp."

Skye inhaled, then muttered, "Fine."

Adrianna neared the Anubis Warrior, whispering what sounded like Ancient Egyptian platitudes.

Coulson's step neared the team. "Hey guys, is everything… What the hell is that?!"

"Damn it if it wasn't Captain Obvious."

The Anubis Warrior screamed, sending such a pulse into their ears that all mortals clamped the sides of their heads and dropped to their knees. The Warrior charged, causing Adrianna to jump to her feet and meet it's snout with her fist in a fierce uppercut, making it stagger. "Get the door!"

Skye jumped and mashed the big red button to open the ramp. The Anubis Warrior shook it's headdress and mane, then turned both wicked black eyes back to the one who hit it. With a mighty claw, it backhanded her, sending her flying upward to the observation rail. Adrianna smacked her front and landed worse than a bird with a wing cramp.

The Anubis Warrior roared and jumped, pulling its knees into its chest to morph into a gold light. Skye hadn't even raised her arm to shield her when it flew out the ramp and down the plowed grass field into the countryside.

Adrianna winced as Simmons examined her. "Ow!"

"Are you alright?" Simmons asked.

Adrianna exhaled. "I've had weirder days."

Triplett narrowed his eyes. "Weirder than being smacked around by a sacred walking god corpse?"

"Believe it or not, yes. Just, none come to mind at the moment." She brought herself to a sitting position.

"Director Coulson, she needs a hospital."

"What I need, dearie, is ten minutes."

"Don't be ridiculous. Your rib is…" She trailed off, pressing into Adrianna's side.

"Ow!"

"I don't understand."

"Like I said, ten minutes."

"What is it?"Coulson asked, looking from one woman to the other. "What do you feel?"

Simmons whirled to him. "Her rib was broken. _Snapped!_"

"And now?"

Adrianna looked at them. "Let's just say, I heal really quick."

"Are you an Asguardian?" Triplett demanded, crouching to get a better look.

"She doesn't fit the stereotypical mold, Tripp."

"Thanks, my grandfather would have loved to hear that."

"So you are!" Triplett shouted.

She inhaled and arched her back slightly. "No."

"But you're something."

"I'm in pain and getting pissed off, does that count?"

"DC!" Skye called from below.

Coulson leaned over the rail. "What've you found?"

"The 084 is gone, so is The Anubis Warrior."

Coulson exhaled and looked away. "You can't get a trace on its signatures? Anything?"

"Fitz had something for a couple of minutes, then it blew up his machine. He's trying to fix it now."

"I can find it."

They all looked to Adrianna.

Coulson swallowed. "How?"

She inhaled. "Think weird and I don't want to explain."

"You're going to have to."

"Alright, I don't want to explain _right now._"

Coulson tilted his head left and right. "We can work with that. Ten minutes?"

"Seven."

Adrianna stretched, working her back and sides and wincing very little. To Triplett, it was as though she was waking from an uncomfortable bed rather than a reaper of bad dreams. She exhaled deeply, adjusting her Captain America shirt. "Ready to find a myth?" She faced him, analyzing him as he seemed to stop breathing.

"Just how many Anubis Warriors have you encountered?"

She walked to him, stretching her arms across her chest. "Two. They always come in twos."

"Why?"

"One to guard the door, the other to guard the king."

"Why would this Warrior be alone to guard a rock?"

She looked at him with a tilted chin. "That's the million dollar question, isn't it?"

"Where are you from?"

She rolled her eyes and passed him. "Planet Earth."

They walked slowly down to Coulson and the team, Adrianna not faking stiffness. "Alright, Adrianna." Coulson called as soon as they both cleared the landing. "Where could it be?"

She took a moment to right herself, making sure her chin was parallel. "You see that vast, green, tilled landscape? Beyond that is the town of Honfleur, and beyond that, Paris. Now, ignore the potential for an incredibly ugly Anubis Warrior to wreak havoc on those people and look to the castle on our left. That's where the Warrior and my rock are. Not one without the other."

"You're sure?"

"Yep."

"How sure?"

"Long story so I'll give you the sweet and condensed version. Anubis Warriors are curses inflicted upon a particular king or in this case, not-so-random rock. They have to be curses in order for them to last and attach to whatever needs protecting. Really powerful magicky stuff that is still unknown. Now, they stay with their inflicted until the end of time, only moving if they have something to move to, like a talisman broken in half. Half A is inflicted, half B is a safe house. The rest just keel over and die with the proper amount of don't quit ass kicking and it helps to have a bit of magic. Got it?"

"I think so."

"The rock had a glyph of it's part B that looks like a box decorated in the Norman style. That means that it's in that castle." She lifted her finger and pointed to the ancient grey stone structure to their left. "Otherwise, it wouldn't have pulled us to it." She looked around. "Any questions?"

"I got one." They turned to Triplett. "How do we get in big, ancient castle?"

They turned to Adrianna. "The front door is usually polite."

"Really? The front door?"

"Yeah, the front door."

There was hardly a person who could believe their eyes as Adrianna turned her heel and walked down the ramp as confidently as she did when they first met her. Triplett was the first to follow her, eyes narrowed in case she wanted to have them killed by the Anubis Warrior to take her rock back.

He followed her onto the most beautiful wild green grass he had ever stepped upon since his Army days in Vermont. Seagulls soared overhead crying gossip over their landing, and to his right, a shepherd and his dog stood, staring at them worse than his sheep. "Adrianna, should we expect the federal government to show up?"

She turned round and walked backwards. "Long story. Let's just go with no."

"That story is getting longer every minute we know you!"

"Good, makes the flight time go faster!"

Triplett watched her turn back around, hearing the steps of the team behind him. The castle was a gigantic structure! It had a complete outer wall, dug area surrounding it that was most likely a moat back in the day, and topped off with a functioning drawbridge. The castle itself had six turrets, a walkway between each, and stained glass windows reflecting in the sun. He had never seen the Tower of London, but he imagined this castle to be something like it. Triplett looked from the pale bricked building to Adrianna.

"Tell me this isn't your castle."

She looked over her shoulder. "Family retreat."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Long story!"

"It's going to be a movie length story!"

"Watch Game of Thrones! That's a typical family reunion."

They stepped onto the cobblestone sidewalk, the unevenness massaging their soles. "I'm going to skip over the fact that you might or might not be Asgardian, have one hell of a nice vacation house, and that you knocked me out." He caught up beside her. "I'm going to focus on the sacred walking god corpse thing that wants to kill us."

"It doesn't want to kill us. It wants to protect it's inflicted."

"Protect mean kill?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"So, how do we kill it?"

"No idea."

Triplett rushed to cut her off. "What do you mean?"

"Each Anubis Warrior is different. What kills one might empower another or kill them both. Depends on the person inflicting the curse."

"That would be great to know!"

"Chill, dude. We don't even know where it's Part B is."

"That makes a difference?"

"Yeah. Depending on how fragile it is, the Warrior will restrain itself. If the Part B can be easily destroyed, its not going to fight as hard because if the Part B is destroyed, so is the Warrior."

"Meaning it's going to do everything it can to keep us from the room where the Part B is."

"Yeah, that's why I let you guys tag along." She tapped his shoulder and stepped around him.

Triplett bit his cheek and clenched his fists, waiting for Coulson to join him. "If she gets us killed, I'll personally dispatch her."

"Why, what'd she say?"

Adrianna turned. "You guys going to talk, or what?"

They walked while Triplett filled them in. "She's going to use us as distractions for the Warrior while she looks for the Part B." He added, "Probably so that she can cross us off so that she can steal both parts."

"If that happens," Coulson replied slowly, "One of us ice her with whatever we've got left. French federals are on their way."

"She said they won't show up. It's a part of her long, slightly scary, story."

"Her brother is a millionaire." Skye told them. "He could have bought off the feds in this area."

"But to buy off someone enough to ignore international aviation laws?" Triplett asked, shaking his head. "They've got to have some sort of serious brass in their pocket, or an iron fist on all the right people."

"Her brother didn't get on the FBI and SHIELD watch lists for being a nice guy," Skye swallowed, "Maybe this is the reason?"

Adrianna halted before them, extending her palms out beside her. "What's up?" Coulson called, slowing the team to a halt.

She flew around. "Get down!"

Triplett heard growling before he felt a flash of heat on his back like standing before a pizza oven. The three of them fell forward, the cobblestone the only thing saving them from a pulse of gold light that vaporized a swarm of flies before them on its way to Adrianna's chest.

Simmons watched with wide eyes and clamped mouth as the Anubis Warrior materialized out of nowhere from the meadow field behind the search party. Adrianna warned them just in time, but that curse was a nasty one! It shot off pulse after pulse of gold, making indentations in the castle walls each the size of a European football.

Fitz rushed to her side. "What do we do?"

Adrianna charged the Anubis Warrior, knocking the pulses away like dodge balls. "She has a resistance to the Warrior's shots." Simmons breathed. "She has to be a super of pedigree to do that."

"What _should_ we do?"

"Let's think, Ian!" She pulled him away from the meadow and to the safety of the ramp shade of The Bus. "There was a part B to the 084 rock, right?"

"Yeah, that's what Adrianna said."

"Right, so it's not with it." They looked, watching as Adrianna and the Anubis Warrior exchanged blows.

"Meaning that the Warrior is protecting it's young, in a manner."

"Exactly. But where could it be?"

"Animals protect their young when a threat is relatively close. Mother bears don't come out of their den until a threat is about twenty paces away."

"Right, so there should be a door around there."

They both peered with their noses on the ramp and eyes as wide as giant poppies as Adrianna was knocked back several times but kept jumping to her feet to issue more blows to the Anubis Warrior. Triplett rolled off the cobblestone sidewalk and withdrew his gun, firing several shots directly into the Warrior's chest. It screamed, making all mortals clamp down on their ears.

"There!" Fitz yelled, pointing above the Warrior's head and pressing his ear to his shoulder to cover it. "The window!"

Simmons dared remove her hands in time to see the Anubis Warrior double over on all fours and lurch full speed towards Triplett. "You sure it's the window?"

The Warrior pounced on Triplett.

"Yes! This is a Norman castle, there aren't any doors in the wall. That was likely a cannon hole where they would shoot out in the later years. It goes into the castle, I'm sure of it."

Skye and Coulson jumped onto the back of the Anubis Warrior, trying to get it off Triplett.

"We have to do something!" Simmons hissed, jumping from their hiding place. "Come, run!"

They cantered through the serene meadow into the fray, barely being missed by a flying Adrianna, Coulson, and Skye. Adrianna, infinite in energy, jumped up and zigzagged to the Warrior to avoid its pulses, watching over her shoulder as Simmons and Fitz skidded to the wall below the stained glass window.

"Let me climb on your shoulders!"

Fitz looked at her. "What?"

"I'm the lightest! Hurry!"

Fitz looked from her to the window, sweat starting to already build on his brow. He took a knee and interlaced his fingers, holding the conjoined palms out to Simmons. She wasted no time jumping onto his step, using the walls as a guide. Fitz struggled to rise, shaking Simmons this way and that and whimpering slightly at the sound of the fighting behind them.

Simmons rose to the window, her chin coming to the sill. She pushed on the old glass, trying to make an opening. "Its locked!"

Fitz panted. "Break the bloody glass, then!"

She rammed her elbow into the red, blue, and green glass, her inner scholar crying out at the action. She punched the rest of the glass, trying hard to not cut herself. Fitz swayed, nearly dropping her. "Fitz!"

"You're heavier than you look!" He cried. "I'm losing strength!"

Simmons looked at her work, at the glass yet to be removed. She inhaled and placed her hands in the gaps wide enough to hold her. She stifled a cry when she felt a piece of glass slice into her palm. With much difficulty, Simmons hoisted herself onto the miniscule ledge, hearing Fitz exhale with relief. "Oh shut up, Fitz!"

The sill was about half of her foot long and hardly big enough for her to stand, but she was able to crouch and kick her way in.

"Jemma look out!"

Simmons turned in time to see the Anubis Warrior scream at her, a pulse in hand.

Adrianna panted, blood seeping from her lower lip, and turned her head, bits of cobblestone pressing into her cheek. "How, could I, miss the window?" She grumbled, lifting herself.

Like the others, this was one tough Anubis Warrior! But, then again they were always tougher when they were incredibly close to losing their inflicted. She staggered forward, watching as the Warrior hurtled pulses at Simmons even when she had jumped into the window.

This was the perfect time to use IT. She had to in order to get both parts of her rock. The Warrior could only be stopped with IT.

Adrianna held out her palms, fingers tight. As easily as breathing, she emitted fire from her palms. In the library of her mind, she checked out the book of pains that she read from whenever she needed IT. She stood, her fire growing with every pain read. Panting, she pulsed her fire to the Anubis Warrior, engulfing it and all its finery in her will. It roared, trying to escape her cocoon but couldn't find the exit. Adrianna dropped her hands, the fire cocoon remaining, and bolted towards it, throwing her arms up and hugging the Anubis Warrior with all fours. The fire fell, and the Anubis Warrior flailed around with Adrianna piggybacking upon it. It dropped to its knees, turning to gold ethereal light as its pulses.

Adrianna held on to the dissipating Anubis Warrior, using all of IT that didn't spew fire to summon the particles. She inhaled, pulling the light into her chest and ignored Coulson's steps as they came close to her. The light faded into her, her eyes lighting up momentarily with the golden light of the Anubis Warrior before she blinked and resumed her eye color to brown.

She could feel IT fighting against the Anubis Warrior within her, but she made them settle down, feeling more like she had an upset tummy than possession. Her eyes focused, glimpsing Coulson's leather business/ field work shoes beside her. Adrianna looked up, seeing a pair of freakishly wide eyes.

She blinked. "You want me to burp?"

"I want a thorough explanation the moment we get in the air."

Adrianna nodded. "Deal."

From the broken window, they heard a bloodcurdling scream. "I did mention that there was another one, right?"

"Yep."

"Found it."

They bolted from the cobblestone, jumping below the drawbridge to a small, iron door that would have been submerged had there been a moat. "Front door!" Triplett called, "Who'd have thought?"

Adrianna waved her arm across her body, using IT to open the door. It flew open, admitting them into the cool bowels of the castle fortress walls. Torches lit in their holders as Adrianna neared out of respect for her arrival, and all doors opened for her to peer inside. "Why's it doing that?" Someone called, they all sounded the same in here.

"Fear of the name Freyason!"

They entered a chamber that contained two rooms filled with chests and three sets of stairs, the Seal of the House of Freyason engraved in the center of the floor. Adrianna crossed her arms across her chest and thrust them downward, sending a spike of light to the rooms and stairs. Simmons fell into view, her hands bloodying the stone beneath her.

Then came the Anubis Warrior.

It seemed shaggier than its mate, and actually wielded an axe about as tall as Adrianna, but she didn't mind. She could use the axe at a later time.

The Anubis Warrior charged, but Adrianna was done playing games. She shot fire at it, engulfing it once more in a cocoon of flame. The chamber warmed at a sickening pace, but Adrianna was quick. Once more, she latched onto the beast with all fours, absorbing it into her body alongside the other one. They argued within her, IT doing its best to keep them both calm.

"She looks like she's going to be sick."

_Oh, shut up!_

"Guys, get ready in case they come back out!"

All at once, the Anubis Warriors calmed and Adrianna blinked. "That's one disgusting feeling."

"Simmons!" Fitz screamed, she hadn't heard him follow.

Simmons was lying on the floor, her head resting on her arm like she was asleep in bed. The moment Fitz touched her, she jolted awake, a wise move. "Fitz, where did it go?"

"Adrianna absorbed it." He whispered, stroking her hair. "It's gone. They're both gone."

She stared at him. "What do you mean, _absorbed_?"

He tilted his head from side to side. "Long story, I'll tell you on the way back."

Adrianna chuckled. "I thought that was my line." She moved towards Simmons. "Where did you first see the Second Warrior?"

Simmons stood, holding her bloodied palm. "Over there," She pointed to a stack of leather bound and silver studded chests. "It just started growling when I saw it."

Adrianna exhaled and waved her hand over the stacks. They hummed with energy, each one giving the same amount of activity rather than a specific chest which would have made the job much easier. She turned to see Skye, Triplett, and Coulson enter the room, Skye going to Simmons. "Finders keepers. First to find the Part B wins."

"Can't you use your magic to find it?" Coulson asked. "You found the rock, why not this?"

"If the Part B is a piece of silk, that wouldn't be a good thing." She turned and took down the topmost case.

Triplett joined her after shrugging and exhaling. Of course a big guy like him would pick up the biggest chest in the stack! "How do we know what the Part B looks like?"

"We'll find the rock that goes with it. They'll be inseparable."

They opened chest after chest, pulling out hand sewn tapestries, tarnished silver candlesticks, utensils, and others. Skye even opened a chest full of jewelry so delicate she broke a brooch just touching it. "Quick question," Skye asked, carefully placing the chest aside, "Why aren't there any guards in this castle?"

"That's a good question." Adrianna replied, closing the lid of a wall tapestry with naked nymphs. "Pierre should be here."

"Who's Pierre?" Coulson asked, closing an empty chest.

"The groundskeeper that probably saw the foundation of this place laid. Nice guy, used to tease me with my pigtails."

"Guys!" Simmons cried. They turned to find her struggling to hold a particular black chest that was about three feet by three feet and not one of the humming chests. "I think I found it!"

Adrianna and Triplett rushed to help her set it down. "How'd you think to look at these?" Adrianna asked, _My game is really off today._

"I thought like the Anubis Warriors." She beamed. "It would be ideal to curse something that wasn't the object instead of the object so that no one would know where to find it."

They set it down, Adrianna feeling slight vibrations beneath her fingers as they did so. "Yep, I think this is it."

Of course this chest had to have a lock!

"Can't you melt it off?" Triplett asked, raising his brows at Adrianna.

She swallowed and touched the lock. Mentally, she slapped shut the book of pains and closed her library. This one she had to concentrate. Adrianna took the lock, older than her grandfather's socks, and held it in her palm. Carefully, like making Jiffy Pop, she warmed her palm until the steel of the lock began to steam. Slowly, the back began to glow red and Adrianna kept her eyes glued to steel loop attached to the chest that held it shut. The entire lock, the heavy padlock that required a skeleton key, glowed orange that infected the metal Adrianna watched. Suddenly, she ripped the padlock from the chest, sending chunks of metal over the cobblestone and slapped her palm to the cobblestone, immediately thinking of HIM and his arms around her to get her to stop heating her palm.

Triplett flung back the lid of the chest and smiled. "Found the 084 rock and a velvet bag that looks like a box."

Coulson grinned. "Finders keepers."

Adrianna peered at him through her hair, allowing her eyes to flash to gold. _God I love that face!_

She swiped at Triplett, sending him flying out of the room, spread her arms to the sides of the box and sat on her haunches, allowing Warrior One's torso to emit from her core and roar at the SHIELD team. She knocked it back like her favorite whiskey, her eyes still gold. "Okay, kiddies. Let's talk."

Coulson and Skye had withdrawn their weapons but their resolve was like jelly. She had them on the ropes. "We're listening." Coulson replied at last.

Adrianna smiled, certain that the Warriors within her made it look much more menacing. "I'm not giving up my rock." She hissed. "I don't care what protocols you have to follow, I'm not giving up this find." She leaned forward, locking eye contact with all members of the team, _These eyes are cool!_ "Since Hydra messed everything up for you guys, SHIELD has been looking for someone into the supernatural. Don't ask me how I know, I just do. _I_ need a place to study these things in relative peace. So here's my terms, I hitch a ride with you to whatever facility you guys hide in, study my rock, and become your errand girl for whatever goes bump in the night. Deal?"

"Seems fairly reasonable." Coulson cocked his shoulder. "I deny them all."

Adrianna blinked her eyes brown. "Why?"

"Because I know nothing about you and you just threatened my team. Both of these aren't my favorite attributes in interviewees."

Adrianna studied him. He had changed since they had last met. He was no longer the snot nosed agent that always had his rulebook and a change of underwear. She would have to try a different approach.

The Anubis Warriors burped and fought, making her wrap her arms around her middle, trying to keep them within. "Let me guess, you can't keep a hold on them?"

"Not really," She croaked.

"What happens if they get out?"

"They kill until they find their inflicted."

"Why should I care?"

"Because they'll come after you first until they find what they want, working backward from who they saw until they cross everyone off."

He lowered his gun slightly. "And you can't hold them?"

Adrianna shook her head, face turning green. "Nope." She rolled her eyes to him. "I can put them into something like a genie in a bottle, but it's going to have to be in a secure place where they can't see anyone but me."

Skye holstered her gun as Triplett slouched into the room holding his back, gun in hand. "Coulson," Skye breathed, "We need to take her to The Playground. These things are way too dangerous to leave here and she looks like she's going to blow chunks any second." Coulson inhaled, letting her words sink in. "C'mon, she's been right about everything, yet. What if she's telling the truth again?"

"I am telling the truth. _All_ of it."

"That's a nice plus." Triplett groaned.

Coulson nodded. "Fine, ice her."

"No, don't!" Simmons cried, stepping around them to stand in front of Adrianna, arms out.

"Why not?" Triplett demanded, "I really want to shoot her, even if it's just knocking her out for a couple hours."

"Her body is in a delicate state with those things in her. If she's unconscious, she cannot control the Anubis Warriors. Her body can still vomit though she's sleeping or, if they kill her, can control her body so that they can hide and reclaim their relics."

Skye leaned back slightly, "Someone's been watching her Doctor Who."

"I've been a bit homesick."

"Please don't say 'sick'!"

"Sorry!" Simmons cried over her shoulder, then faced forward. "So, what do you say, Director?"

Coulson inhaled. "Tripp, take her to the interrogation room, lock her in."

"She _melted_ the door?" Coulson was staring at the damage and still he couldn't believe it.

"Melted the locks clean off." Fitz explained, "She must've done it while we were distracted with the plane earlier. That's how she was able to escape."

"Well that's fitting, the one place where we can keep her and she's already broken out of it."

"Where is she now, sir?"

"Down below in the medic wing, Skye's locked her in." He turned to Fitz. "I don't care if you have to take the whole door off. Try to get it fixed, alright?"

"Yeah, definitely."

Coulson nodded to him and took off towards the medical area, passing Simmons in the lab as she began to catalogue the 084s. "Has she said anything, Skye?"

"Not really. She's looking like she's got some more control over the Warriors but, not much." Coulson stood next to her before the mostly windowed room. Adrianna sat at the edge of the bed, looking like she'd just run from a nightmare after never running before in her life. Her hair hung about her shoulders, and though she wasn't green, she was pale.

"Let me in, please." Coulson told Skye.

Skye pressed three buttons on her tablet and the doors slid open, admitting Coulson into the room. "How're you feeling?"

Adrianna looked at him. "It feels better than frostbite."

He chuckled and drew a chair to sit beside her. "You promised me a long story. It's a rather long flight to The Playground."

Adrianna stared at him for a moment, looking him up and down to see if he was worthy of her secret. She exhaled deeply, closed her eyes and looked down. Slowly, she opened her eyes and tilted her head upward to look at him, revealing incredibly bright blue eyes. She twitched her eyebrow and the door closed, leaving them in solitude and Skye nervous.

Adrianna inhaled. "A thousand years ago, the Normans recorded the last appearance of the gods and goddesses of Myth with Freya. As recompense for King Rollo settling Normandy and slaying the man who killed one of her children, she birthed to him a son and to another noble, a daughter. For centuries, the Freyason family protected the strain strictly for the uses of magic that came with being what we now know as being Asgardian. They found other offspring of the gods and arranged marriages to protect and enhance their abilities." She lifted her hand and summoned a blue flame to her fingers. "When the Nazis invaded France, Hydra searched in particular for my grandfather for his traces. They found him and… well, I'll let you use your imagination." She extinguished the flame. "He escaped and fled to Argentina, hoping that Hydra wouldn't find him.

"After the war, they received an influx of war criminals. For the betterment of the strain, he decided against keeping it pure and found a beautiful Argentine woman, determined to hide the strain in simple genetics and changing his family's appearance from traditional Nordic to Hispanic. To his wife he conceived four children and to several other mistresses a total of eight kids, his own Punnet Squares. My grandfather and his legit kids moved to Mexico to further change the appearance of the family where my dad met my mom and they emigrated to the U.S.

"Though the strain is impure, the magic still lives. Through me, it still lives." She snapped her fingers and held in the left hand a fireball, the right, a blue one. "I've gotten used to hiding my eyes so that I don't like blue ones. On me, at least. My grandfather hated seeing me like this." The flames faded. "It was like seeing blue scared him."

"I can imagine," Coulson admitted. "Hydra and the Nazis did terrible things."

"I've never used IT, magic, for anything major. In fact, I haven't used it in a while for anything other than making popcorn while watching a movie. There aren't many places where I can practice without someone's cell phone flipping out and catching me." She paused, "Another reason why I wanted to join SHEILD so bad. I can make my family proud by being alien-ish."

Coulson nodded. "I can understand that. I've sent your lab results in to SHEILD headquarters, along with my recommendation that you remain on my team. If you don't screw up, you can research your rock and every theory you can think up at The Playground."

Adrianna stared. "Really? You, you want me to stay?"

Coulson nodded. "All you had to do was ask, Adrianna. I would've agreed to let you on as a consultant before I knew about your magic. Now, I can't really let you go."

Adrianna snorted. "Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome." Adrianna opened her mouth, yet closed it. "Yes?"

"Is… is there any chance," She looked at him, her eyes pleading, "Is there any chance that I could meet Rogers? I found him, I think he should know that."

"He should know, or you should know him?"

She stared at him. "Yes."

Coulson smirked. "Nice try."

She tilted her head. "It was worth the effort."

"I'll see what I can do. He went off the grid since the Winter Soldier incident and he, kinda thinks I'm dead."

Adrianna smirked. "I figured as much." She smiled and blinked, sending her eyes back to their usual amber. "Now if you don't mind, I have a rock to study."

"Not until we get back to The Playground."

"Great."

"Yeah, and it wouldn't be right of me if I didn't give you my best secret agent impression."

Adrianna smirked and faced him fully.

Coulson's smile faded. "With a family as ancient as yours, there are bound to be a couple of secrets." Her face betrayed nothing. "I'm going to ask you now, right now, only one question. The response to this question will determine how nice a recommend letter I'll write." He stood, towering slightly over her. "Are you keeping any secrets from SHIELD that we ought to know about now?"

Adrianna swallowed, leaning away slightly. Her nails scratched the sheets for a moment, and she lifted her chin. "Yes." She breathed. "But you're not going to know about them now."

"Will they hurt my team?"

She shook her hair, her golden brown spilling onto her shoulders. "If they don't find me, they won't hurt them." She flicked her hair over her right shoulder, darting her eyes to the door.

"Why won't you tell me?"

She swallowed. "I've learned that secrets can protect people, but always come out in the end. If my demons start coming up, I'll let you know. For now, I'm keeping them close. Can you live with that?"

Coulson nodded. "If you hurt my team, I'll personally make sure you never see the light of day again."

Adrianna snorted. "Coulson, I haven't seen the light of day for eight years. Believe me, you're the last thing that scares me."

Simmons opened a briefcase and carefully removed the velvet bag box, placing it on the observation table next to the rock. "Jemma?" Fitz called, "Still cataloguing that thing?"

She smiled. "Yes, its just so fascinating! The rock alone with the iridescent lights is astounding!"

"I'll make us some coffee, and I'll help you."

"Sounds great." She turned back to the box, then back to him. "Don't put too much coffee in the filter like last time."

"You made the coffee last time!"

"No! It was you! Remember? You were drooling over the fresh scones and put too much!"

"Oh, right! Well, we don't have any scones."

"Coffee will be just fine, Ian."

"Alright, I'll be back in approximately five minutes." He trotted off, a wide grin on his face.

Simmons sighed and turned back to the box, "Let's see what you are now, shall we?" Carefully, she picked up the box and slid it from the velvet bag, revealing a long, silver box with intricate designs of Celtic knots. Excited, she picked up her spectrometer. "Your signatures are beyond anything I've seen in a long time."

From behind her a voice, cold and unbelonging, asked, "Where have you seen these signatures before?"

"These look like the records of the Battle of London and New York, especially when Lady Sif turned up last year." She set down her spectrometer and donned a pair of gloves. "Let's open it, shall we?"

"Let's."

Carefully, she placed her fingers on to top corners of the lid and lifted, feeling a thrill run down her spine as she peered inside. The inside was inlaid with faded silk and a long, thin piece of silver. "This looks like a piece of a spear."

"It's an Asgardian time piece, used by my grandfather's fiercest warriors to go back into time and eliminate threats to the mortals each time there was a time lapse."

"Really? Imagine what we could do with time jump…" She straightened, her thrill turning to fear as cold as nitrogen. "Fitz?"

"Not quite."

Shaking, Simmons turned, her eyes finding the darkest corner where a man in green and black leather jacket, black trousers, black boots, and pallid face with regal cheekbones, thin lips curled into a wicked smile, and hair like the darkest night sat, the whites of his eyes glowing as he gazed at her.

She dropped her spectrometer. "W-who are you?"

His hand danced to a lamp and he flicked it on, revealing the delightfully grim face of Loki. "Shall I make the proper introductions, or are you just going to scream?"

Simmons backed into the table, her throat emitting whimpers and her hands untamable. "Y-you're... The battle of New York. That was you!"

He stood. "I am Loki of Asgard. And yes, I've been on this pathetic rock before."

She slid away from the table, her feet bolting to the doors but she was stopped suddenly by Loki's body pressing against hers and his ivory hand covering her mouth, emerald eyes blazing into hers. "Not a word, Lady Simmons." He hissed, then kicked her with his knees until she submitted and allowed them to move to the back of the room. He flicked the lights off, making her whimper Fitz's name.

He reached into his jacket and withdrew a vial of black liquid."If you refuse to cooperate, this vial is going into the coffee of ever person on this vessel, making them die slowly and agonizing, understand?"

Simmons looked at the vial, then at him and nodded. Like he was dissolving a chunk of sand, Loki vanished the vial. "Now, that time piece was broken and hasn't worked in a very, long time. I want you," With his left hand, he unbuttoned the top button of her blouse, "To find," Second button, "The second piece." Third button. "Once that second piece is found, the rest will be fairly easy to put together."

Simmons shivered, her eyes too frightened to cry. He moved his hand to hover above her mouth. "What would stop me from telling everybody your plan?"

Loki chuckled, "Because you'll have no choice over anything you say or do from now on." He moved her shirt to the side, exposing her flesh and touched it, a blue substance moving from his finger into Simmons. She inhaled, the motion causing the substance to absorb and flow throughout her body, stopping when it recolored her eyes electric blue. He dropped his hands and stepped back. "I'll watch everything, every development you make while you go about acting like you regularly would in the presence of others."

He buttoned her shirt and grabbed her chin, Simmons didn't flinch. "Find the second piece, Lady Simmons. That is the only way I'll get out of your head." He smirked. "Repeat after me, 'It's just a hologram.'"

In a monotone, hollow voice, she repeated, "It's just a hologram."

"It's just a hologram."

"It's just a hologram."

"Shut your eyes. It's just a hologram."

Simmons obeyed, closing her eyes. Loki released her face making her bow her head. "It's just a hologram. It's just a hologram."

"Jemma?" Fitz called.

Loki turned. "You don't look like my brother."

Fitz stepped away from the room, eyes wide. "Coulson! Tripp!"

"Fitz, it's alright!" Simmons called looking up, her eyes normal. "It's just a hologram." She lifted her hand and let it go through Loki's shoulder. "See?"

"What's a hologram of Loki doing here?"

"I'm not sure." She stepped around him. "I opened the box and he stepped out." She closed the box and Loki's image disappeared. She opened it again and golden light shot out like a projector screen, showing Loki with his back to them hands clasped behind his back.

He turned and looked at them. "You don't look like my brother."

Feet pounded on the carpet and revealed Triplett, Skye, Coulson, and to the very back, Adrianna. At first, everyone stared, unable to say a word. "He's a hologram." Simmons told them. "He can't hurt us."

"Loki?" Skye asked. "Is that for real?"

"I'm merely a hologram," Loki told them. "I created it while in prison on Asgard for my brother, Thor. How it ended up in Earth, I have no idea."

"Adrianna," Coulson said, hands trying not to shake. "What's a hologram of Loki doing in your family's castle?"

"I don't know." She panted, holding her middle. "My family knows this other clan of supers. One of their sons is a realm jumper and a professional con man. He might've taken the box and stored it at the family retreat because no one goes there."

"Sounds likely." Loki replied. "And you are?"

"Don't talk to him." Coulson commanded. "Everyone outside."

"No, no. It's okay." Simmons reached through Loki's chest and flipped the box shut, making him disappear. "Just a hologram."

"Until we can confirm that, no one is to touch the box or let that hologram out, understand?"

"Not possible, Coulson."

They turned to Adrianna as she hobbled to the box. "Why?"

"Look at these markings." She turned the box to Simmons. "Nothing on earth has these."

"It's an Asgardian box," Coulson told her, "It's going to have different markings."

"Not like these." She turned to him and bore into him. "Coulson, I've seen stuff from Asgard. These are older than the stuff even Lady Sif's brought to Earth. I had a peek of SHIELD's files when you guys collapsed." She flipped open the box to let Loki come back out.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself?" Loki sighed.

"What kind of box is this?"

"An Asgardian one."

"No, this is older than the ones we've seen. This isn't an ordinary box."

"Ah, you're the clever one." He smiled, "Loki of Asgard. It's a pleasure Lady…?"

"Adrianna."

"Lady Adrianna." He turned to Coulson. "I confess. This is a hologram but this is an older box that I found as a child. The markings are a language long dead on Asgard and I have no idea what the piece of silver is. I took it, hoping that my brother would be taunted should Odin decide to give it to him." He smiled, his features full of mischief. "I guess I'll have to taunt you, Son of Coul."

"Not likely."

"Still have hard feelings?"

"You killed me!" Coulson strode to the box. "I don't care if you are a hologram, you're not taking my team."

He slammed the box shut, but before he could grab it, Adrianna snatched it away. "I know you have a lot of resentment, but this is bigger than your grudge match."

They glared at each other, entire conversations spoken in that single, intense moment. "Remember what I said about not screwing up?" He demanded.

She raised her eyebrows. "I won't."

"Be careful when you open it." Coulson warned, staring at the box. "I don't care if it's just a recorded hologram." He looked at every member of the team. "I don't want Loki in your heads. He's a trickster, and he'll manipulate you before you've even realized it." He turned to Simmons, "Did Loki say anything to you before Fitz came in?"

"He looked around, saw me and grinned. I thought it was real until I tried to push him away and my hands went through him."

"Did he say anything?"

Simmons nodded, her hands shaking. "He tried to scare me. He stopped when I figured out the truth."

Coulson turned to Adrianna, she clutched the box closer at his look. "Don't think for a second that you're safe with him. He lies, he's an expert at lying and could have just fed us a load of crap."

"I'll be careful, Coulson." Adrianna promised.

He shot her a look, his eyes filled with their previous chat.

"I promise." She repeated, her voice hard.

"I don't want him to know about what we talked about earlier."

"My end of the bag is held tightly," She straightened, "Is yours?"

He pressed his lips together and turned his heel, stalking to his office.

"So who wants to open it?" Skye asked.

Adrianna grinned. "Totally, but he's right. Loki has to be brought out sparingly."

Coulson shut the door to his room and panted against it, his hands beginning to shake. Trembling, he stumbled to his bathroom and yanked at his tie, pulling it from his neck and hastily unbuttoning his shirt to reveal the scar of the Berserker Staff through his chest. The long, diamond shaped scar that interrupted the smooth complexion of his torso, seared him to his toes and he crumpled into a tight ball on the floor. "It's just a hologram." He sobbed. "It's just a hologram."

Honfleur, Normandy, France

Pierre watched the giant airplane leave with the help of three local tractors. He had received the distress call that it issued and lied about sending help just like he had been taught as a boy when he began working for Famille Freyason. As soon as it disappeared in the clouds, he shuffled from his post before twelve monitors, took his cane, and walked down the hall to where the secure phone line was housed.

He swallowed, unlocking the door with his silver key that only appeared whenever he needed it, and pressed his wrinkled thumb to the pad, admiring his wrinkles in the green light of the scanner. Seven more wrinkles since last time.

_"__Prennez votre nom."_ A female voice commanded.

"Pierre Auguste Montpellier."

_"__Qui voulez vous parler?"_

"Fenris Thor Freyason."

_"__Un minute, s'il vous plait."_

He waited, listening to a very good saxophone rendition of "Claire de la Lune", ignoring his bad leg until a velvet voice answered. "Yes?"

"Maitre Freyason," Pierre told him cursing at the phlegm that built in his throat for a moment, "I've seen your sister."

There was a pause. "She was in France?"

"Oui, Maitre. Only for a moment. I'll send you the video if you'll let me."

"Send it to the Monaco email address. Thank you, Pierre."

"You're welcome, Maitre."

Pierre hobbled back to his monitors, the machines turning on the moment he walked in. On the bottom center monitor, video of Adrianna fighting with the Anubis Warrior was playing and continued as Pierre typed in a specific email address. _"Je suis trés desolee, Maitress."_ He sighed.

Then hit send.

_TBC_

_Please Review!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry about the technical difficulties on the first chapter, still trying to get the hang of publishing. The delay was due to this fun thing called Summer II classes. Enjoy and please review!_

Homeland

_"__Often rebuked, yet always back returning_

_To those first feelings that were born with me,_

_And leaving busy chase of wealth and learning_

_For idle dreams of things which cannot be." _

_-Emily Brontë_

Adrianna stood beside Triplett and Coulson, trying to look nauseated for their critical eyes. Of course she had control over the Anubis Warriors! She just charred them with her fire and they shut up, leaving her to ponder her next move in peace. When the SHIELD team did begin to wonder about her "condition," it wasn't hard making them believe her story, most people lose their lunch before the Hulk imitator lost theirs meaning that all she had to do was occasionally dry heave and miracles happened.

Apparently, Coulson was serious about letting her onto his team of researchers. SHIELD was in shambles, whoring themselves out to higher government agencies so that they could put ammo into their weapons. A super with knowledge of the supernatural, could _feel_ the supernatural, and yield it as well, was apparently quite invaluable to a limping agency.

So for the time being, she was golden!

She was inside working for a notoriously secret government agency, one that wouldn't even give up vital information to a congressional warrant! They still maintained their secrets, so she, as a super, would definitely be one of them. Besides, now that she was in, she could snoop to her heart's content. _Mother of God, this is like college! Before I got kicked out for hacking the Dean's computer! And breaking into Professor Stephen's office! And catching Dr. Quintana with Dr. Cooper, damn college was eventful…_

The ramp opened and Triplett and Coulson instinctively grabbed her forearms. "Are you alright? The Warrior's aren't giving you heartburn?"

She hesitated before answering. "Not like yesterday. I'm good… for now."

Coulson nodded, then led her down the ramp to a… "What in the realms is this?"

She turned to Coulson and saw him smile. "Welcome to The Playground."

It was as though someone had submerged Disneyland beneath Anaheim. Everything was cement and granite, hardly any color other than those used for scientific caution. There were very few people fluttering about this small town sized space packed with square labs partitioned by glass walls and some of wood or removable canvas, perhaps a grand total of fifteen or twenty people other than Coulson's team. A small train station greeted them, nine destinations engraved on the arrivals board. Fire lab, Aquatic Lab, Chemical Lab, Gym, Cafeteria, Storage Level 1-3, Storage Level 4-6, Storage Level 7-9, Dormitory. From over the train rails, Adrianna could see a domed bunker that likely led underground to the fire lab, above it a large swimming pool with the SHIELD logo printed on the glass bottom. Through keen eyes belonging to her super sense, Adrianna glimpsed the gym complete with a proper firing range for both guns and arrows, as well as standard weight training equipment, treadmills, and hand-to-hand combat equipment. Beyond that was concealed by the fast paced, small car train that rattled into the station.

Coulson led her into the train, the rest of the team filing in behind them with the fruits of their previous adventures in secure briefcases. "So, if SHIELD fell to Hydra, how are you able to keep all of this?" Adrianna asked, her forehead pressed to the glass as Coulson held down the button for Storage Level 7-9.

Coulson looked at her. "This place doesn't exist."

She turned to him and arched her brow. "Of course not."

He chuckled. "Director Fury kept this facility off the books. Only a few people were chosen to come here in SHIELD's golden days, making this place completely Hydra free."

"I should be honored, then?"

Coulson moved his head from side to side as the train began to move. "Honored, or nervous. Prisoners that are sent here don't usually come back out."

She snorted. "Secret agent impression?"

"Fun, aren't they?"

"You've been watching too many 007 movies. Try harder, next time."

Coulson smiled and continued holding down the button, glancing up at the clock next to the door. Adrianna wanted to tell him that holding the button wasn't necessary, but thought against it. They were in all likelihood going to Area 51 and he was letting them know to hide the aliens. They rattled past rows of different labs, at least one doctor in a white lab coat seen every third lab pouring over something scientific. From the glimpses she could see, the labs were not properly stocked like she would have expected from a government agency. But then again, they were not a fully operational agency.

"Are we going to Level 10?" Simmons asked, holding onto the center poles like a regular Londoner on the Tube.

"Yes." Coulson answered. "I've informed Billy that we'd be coming with viewer sensitive cargo." He turned to Adrianna. "A room has been prepared for the Anubis Warriors to be extracted from you into an O-84 containment box."

Adrianna nodded. "Thanks." She hesitated. "What are you going to do with them?"

"We're going to seal them and hand them over to NASA for study and critical research."

She inhaled. "Um, I'd like to point out that you have a hologram of perhaps the greatest psychotic conqueror of the Earth since Alexander the Great in your possession."

"He didn't conquer Earth, and what's your point?"

"If he gets into Hydra's hands, you can kiss your comfy little Subterranean Disneyland goodbye."

Silence, absolute silence other than the rattling of the train, echoed throughout the car.

Adrianna mentally jumped. "If you recall, he's not above playing on teams so long as they are against his enemies. And, he dived into the minds of one of SHIELD's greatest assassins and astrophysicists, so he has unlimited bargaining chips. Besides, the box he came in and my rock are conjoined. They _have_ to be in the same room otherwise they'll move on their own."

"I thought that only happened when the Anubis Warriors were guarding them." Skye asked.

Adrianna turned to her, her chest constricting with panic. "We can try, but I seriously don't want any more magic unlocking unintentionally."

"What do we hand back to NASA, then?" Coulson asked, his face distant. He seemed to remember being stabbed quite vividly.

Adrianna withheld her smile. "What did you call the signatures your monitors read on my rock?"

"An O-84, an unknown substance giving unidentified readings."

"Just tell them that what registered were curses protecting a pharaoh and hand over the Anubis Warriors. They wouldn't know what this O-84 thing is, otherwise they would have told you, 'go get a rock.'" Coulson's team looked to each other each person pondering the proposal.

"I know its not the best option, but the alternative is giving him to Hydra. They were in sleeper mode for seventy years, I wouldn't underestimate them going back under for their greater good."

Silence echoed for moments. "What's the danger if he's a hologram?" Skye asked. "Aren't his responses limited?"

"You trust him that it's just a hologram?" Adrianna asked. "If he's lying and not just a projection, what's the harm? He'll have limited contact with anything or anyone who is willing to help him. If he's an image, then what is recorded on that box that could hurt us? R2-D2 only showed Princess Leia's full message when he met the right person. Who's to say it isn't the same here?"

The train descended into a dark tunnel, few lights still visible including the green circle button that Coulson still held down and Fitz's glow-in-the-dark watch. "Adrianna's right, sir." Fitz told him. "We can't risk someone like him in the hands of Hydra."

"Where will we put him, then?" Simmons asked. "Certainly not with Adrianna and her rock, that's deplorable!"

"Adrianna will have one of the best labs in The Playground." Coulson told them. "She will also need to study his box and the connection to the O-84 rock." He turned to her. "You've also had more experience with aliens than any of us, combined. You think you can handle it?"

Adrianna smiled inside and nodded somberly. "I think I can."

HH HH HH

If only handing over Anubis warriors was as nice as burping after a cold root beer. In order for her ruse to be fully achieved, Adrianna had to put on a show of vomiting her parasites complete with watering eyes, spells of not breathing, and beating her hands on the cement floor while pouring her neck over a super fancy metal containment case with a red "X" taped in the middle. Seriously, they put a red "X" in the center in case she should miss.

Before the show of vomiting, Adrianna waved her hands above her head in a graceful manner she had YouTubed the night before, and sang an Ancient Egyptian lullaby, telling the SHIELD team it was a curse from the Book of the Dead to bind the Anubis Warriors to the containment case. She nearly laughed when she thought that the real magic of the whole charade that was mystical was the actual summoning of the Anubis Warriors. Once they were summoned, the magician simply pointed to what they wanted to be protected and _voila!_ Instant guardian for the rest of eternity.

Coulson had taken her to a darkened bunker-like storage warehouse, then to a room that "Billy" had prepared for the extraction, then closed the door and left her alone with the containment case and a camera above her next to the light. Adrianna heaved, and sputtered, mouth open and saliva dribbling as she expelled the first Anubis Warrior, emitting it like a sudden burst of liquid gold. She gasped, coughing and pressing a hand to her chest, her core sore from the act. All the while, Adrianna had kept _close_ eyes on both her rock and Loki's box.

She couldn't explain it.

There was a feeling she got every so often, it had only happened three times before, when every molecule in her being shouted, _"Go after it!"_ The first time was when she was a little girl and went to a little abandoned shack on her grandfather's property that local teenagers would go to drink and have sex. She sat in the middle of this crumbling shack and, for the first time, let her fire escape her careful control, engulfing the empty shack in flame and watching it burn everything but her. Not even her frilly pink hair bows were scorched!

The second and third times both involved HIM.

The second was when her family finally chased down HIS. The third was when she left HIM the night before…

Adrianna released the second Anubis Warrior faster than the first. Mentally, she kicked herself, but forced herself to calm down. _They don't know what I'm thinking._ She thought, _They don't know what the second was like after the first._ She slammed the lid on the two golden orbs the size of soccer balls, then exhaled and sat back on her haunches. "All clear." She strained, making her voice crack.

Footsteps faintly crossed behind her, a keypad was punched with the right beeping digits, and Coulson's step entered. He was a cautious man with a patient, expectant face that made Adrianna both appreciate and hate him as he stepped around her legs to face her front, a cup of water in hand. "That didn't look pleasant." He handed her the cup.

"I've had better days." She took the cup and sipped, the cool water soothing the burning in her throat.

"Oh yeah? Name one."

She tapped her finger against the metal cup. "The day after I was supposed to get married. New alias, new country. Those days are really nice."

Coulson nodded thoughtfully and pouted his bottom lip. "I can understand that. I'm also quite curious but I don't want to know, do I?"

"No. Not now, anyways."

"Alright, then. Would you like to see your lab?"

She chugged the last of the water and stood, wobbly from sitting on her haunches. "Lead the way."

HH HH HH

"Lanyards are given on a case-by-case basis." A short little toad by the name of Billy Koenig with mousy brown hair, brown eyes, kept suit, and annoying nasally sounding voice, chided as they wound through the levels of The Playground. "Case one is that they are given _only_ to SHIELD agents. Since you are a consultant and not an agent, you don't get a lanyard."

Adrianna couldn't help but marvel at the Aquatics Lab above them as they passed through the Fire Lab to get to her specified area. "What does that mean if I don't get a lanyard?"

He reached into his pocket and withdrew a silver bracelet. "It means," He dropped it to his side and let it go, sending it flying from his fingers to her wrist, clasping shut immediately, "That we will be watching your every move in this base."

"Hey!" She cried as the bracelet clicked several times before lighting green once, then fading to silver. "'Watch my every move'? What kind of crap is that! What can I do?"

"You may study in your designated lab." He opened the door to the back of the Fire Lab, "You may join us at the Cafeteria, and in the Gym, but everything else is off limits without a SHIELD agent present." He continued on.

"Where do I sleep?"

He stopped before a particular lab with glass doors and, thankfully, drywalls on the neighboring two sides and the one that faced the train tracks. "Unfortunately, you will have to sleep in your lab." He flung open the door.

It was a wide, brown painted room with a spacious black work table in the center, three computers on a raised space at the edge of the table, shelves lining both walls each stocked with chemicals and cleaning supplies needed for accurate archaeology study. Off to the right of the room was a wide double sink with two spigots and counter, her own bathroom and shower behind a door, and behind another, a room with a full sized bed and mini closet.

"Dr. Ventura passed away three months ago," Billy explained. "He was the one who designed Steve Rodger's room when it came time to revive him, and helped us tremendously with various things. He often said the greatest archaeologists were not to be seen for days because they were studying something important. He kept a hot plate under the sink and had his assistant do his grocery shopping. I'd go for months without seeing the guy."

Adrianna stood dumbfounded by the sight of it all. This lab had everything she could ever need! She turned to him. "Thank you."

He smiled. "You're welcome. Your O-84s await you."

She nodded and stepped inside, marveling at her lab as Billy closed the door, leaving her in solitude. Adrianna continued marveling until his step faded away, then listened some more until she could conclude that she was in absolute solitude. At the back of the lab, on smaller wooden tables, were the containment cases for her rock and the box. Quickly, she crossed the carpet floor, took the case with the box, and set it down in the center of the work table. Carefully, she opened it and removed the silver Asgardian box, an emotion running down her spine that she couldn't explain. A mix between fear, caution, and excitement.

Just like before, he shot out in a haze of light with his back to her, his very presence chilling the room.

He turned, emerald eyes meeting mead. "Lady Adrianna."

She bowed her head deeply. "Your highness."

His eyebrow arched. "You're the first to address me by a polite title."

She lifted her head. "You are the son of Frigga, are you not?"

He froze, then narrowed his gaze. "What do you know of Queen Frigga?"

"When Thor came, he proclaimed himself the son of Odin. You have yet to call yourself that title though you have called Thor your brother. That means you don't get along well with Odin, but perhaps with Queen Frigga? That makes you a prince."

He took his time sweeping his eyes over her frame before answering, staring for moments longer at her lips and her hands. Adrianna stood erect, allowing him to scan her whilst she did the same to him. Loki wore a simpler version of clothing than when he invaded New York, perhaps because he was in prison. He wore the emerald and black jacket with gold bracers that she wanted to steal, along with his black breast plate and what looked like a gold collar intricately and minutely decorated with designs she couldn't see, black trousers, and black boots that could kick her to the moon. His hair was slicked back though some strands wanted desperately to run untamed onto his pale, menacing face, and his smirk danced on his lips as his eyes shimmered with mischief.

"What are you, mortal?"

It was her turn to smirk. "Coulson doesn't want me to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"He doesn't want me to tell you that I am from an extensive family that originates from Freya. This clan has done absolutely anything and everything to maintain the magic from the original children, including rape of other magical beings and fratricide. Coulson doesn't want you to know that I damn near bullied my way onto this team to study the rock and your box without them taking it from me."

He leaned back, impressed or amused she couldn't tell. "What Coulson doesn't want me to know is quite a bit… impressive. But, tell me Lady Adrianna, why would… Coulson… not want me to know this?"

"Because he's probably asking himself why a genius such as yourself would willingly attach himself to something he had no idea would be stolen from Asgard, in the _hope_ that it would make it's way to his brother, and not know what the piece of silver is."

His face was like marble, unreadable. "Coulson… wonders many things."

She smirked. "Yes, he does."

"Such as, why would you want me so near to you with such history in your family? One would think putting me next to someone like you would be the first and farthest thing from his mind."

"I might've encouraged you next to me."

It was his turn to smirk. "Why would a lady, such as yourself, want to be near to a monster like me?"

"Maybe, she doesn't see a monster."

He cocked his brow and tilted his head. "Maybe, she should."

Her eyes narrowed. "Is that a promise?"

His lips curled and he chuckled, eyes glittering. "Oh, yes."

"Good." She stepped back to the computers. "Now I can trust you."

He frowned. "Why?"

"Captain Jack Sparrow rules." She turned on the computers. "He's from a film, but his logic is spot on." She lifted both hands and swayed as she spoke, "He said, 'Me, I'm dishonest, and you can always trust a dishonest man. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, 'cause you can never predict if they're going to do something incredibly stupid.'" She dropped her hands. "With me so far?"

He raised both brows and nodded, impressed. "So, I'm trustworthy because I'm not one to be trusted?"

She smiled and nodded. "Exactly."

"And you, Lady Adrianna? Are you one to put my trust in?"

She snorted and opened the drawer beneath the middle computer, finding a laminated paper with the temporary pass codes to the lab. "Many people have invested many emotions in me. Trust, Love, Patience, to name a few." She looked at him. "All of them found their investments charred to ash when they're done with me."

"Then I should not place my trust in you?"

She smiled. "You're a scholar. I would advise you to study before coming to such a decision."

"How shall I do that? Coulson forbade me from coming out to play."

Adrianna laughed. "You let me deal with him. If I can get you next to me, I can certainly turn his head several different ways before he realizes what a bad idea it was. Besides, I have to study your box. I can't do that without taking you out."

Loki spread his arms and bowed slightly at the waist, stepping back to the sink counter. "Then I shall watch you study."

Adrianna clicked several icons on the third computer, finding Pandora and her favorite work station. "You like music?"

"I'm fond of a good tune."

She smiled and turned up the speakers, allowing a piano to sweep through the quiet lab. "Small Steps," She scoffed. "Random."

"Beautiful." Loki corrected. "Complex."

"Like the best poems."

He said nothing, but she was certain he agreed with her. Adrianna walked about the lab gathering what she would need to document the first examination of the box, Loki's eyes glued to her back, then closing when she looked, or pretended to look, at the cabinet behind him for something.

HH HH HH

Lady Adrianna watched Loki as he watched her. She was a clever mortal, much like Lady Jane who enraptured his brother. Unlike _him_, Loki was evenly matched with this handsome maiden. She was crass like a tavern wench, but cunning like a wolf. She could smell his deceit from the moment he opened his mouth, and addressed him as a prince.

All these things made killing her that much more difficult.

She disobeyed Agent Coulson by telling or not telling him about her family past, a tale worthy of Asgard's feasting tables if there ever was one, and she fought to have him placed in the same room of study with her.

_Why?_

From what he could see within the mind of Lady Simmons, Lady Adrianna was not an agent of SHIELD.

That made her absolutely free.

Yet, they threatened to take the Time Rock away from her, forcing her to reveal a splendid array of magical qualities that astounded him.

That made her an indentured servant.

An indentured servant chained to her own curiosity and insatiable thirst for knowledge of this object, this _rock_, when she could be free to do as she pleased.

There was something more to her tale than she was letting on.

He scoured the mind of Lady Simmons, making her uncomfortably rub the back of her neck, but Loki didn't care. He needed to know this…

There was nothing.

He opened his eyes, watching Lady Adrianna pour over his silver box, pressing a piece of paper to the top and move a wax stick over the surface of the paper so that the design on the top of the box could come onto the paper. There was more to her and her dark history than she was letting on. An enchantress of her caliber could have burnt this place to the foundation with her studies safely tucked away. He nearly jumped out of his boots when it struck.

She _wants_, no, not want, she _needs_ a place to study or even live where few know her name.

But why tell him?

He was nothing to her. Not a shadow nor second thought in her impressive mind. Perhaps telling him was a slight rebellion against SHIELD? Yes, he would often wallow in pleasure when he did something the All Father did not want to happen and not get blamed for it. But, he figured she wasn't that silly.

He did have his box placed in Chateau Freyason for a reason.

His eyes flicked to the chest that held the Time Rock. Someone clever needed to find and research it. _Someone_ needed to unlock its mystery while he bought valuable time in Asgard. His eyes dragged to Lady Adrianna as she labeled the paper, "Top". Perhaps this was the clever one he needed?

If she was what he needed, he was in quite the fix.

Women to him were like rocks in a stream. They were simply just, _there._ Of course, there were some rocks that stood out from the rest, drawing his attention like a fish toward a fishing line and bait. He swept his eyes over Lady Adrianna's frame once more. It had been a rather grey stream lately, and she with her wit and beauty was like a ruby pendant over algae covered rocks. She didn't belong in his stream, and yet, she did. She was not the handsomest creature he had come across, yet her daring to confront him so casually, almost warning him, made something in his core sputter and turn round.

He listened to the music her computer emitted, enjoying the soft and sometimes jovial sounds whilst watching her. She was going to be a puzzle he was going to enjoy piecing together.

HH HH HH

Two Weeks Later

The running was getting on Adrianna's nerves. Guy X was wanted by the CIA and was selling guns to Guy Y that somehow or another involved Guy Z. The rendezvous for some super not-so-secret meeting went bust and caused an explosion, some cotton candy, and another thing to happen that had Coulson and the rest of the SHIELD team to go banana balls.

Someone cantered overhead, (her lab was conveniently below the war room with seemingly paper thin floor) shouting about a shipment of weapons. Apparently, if these weapons were not seized in time, the world was going to die!

Dun, dun, DUNN!

A book slapped shut and she looked up in time to see Loki exhale, rolling his eyes. He hadn't said a word in two weeks. He made _sounds, _but he didn't verbally speak. Since they had introduced each other and gave each other a basic warning of their temperaments, Loki hadn't spoken a single word to her. She talked to him all the time. She greeted him good morning, commented on the intricacy of his box, sang with The Rat Pack, gave Julia Child voice commentary of how she cooked her meals, swore when his box pinched her fingers, did weird play things with her shoes while she was reading a book on Nordic symbols from the internet, complained about the lack of a window to the outside, asked him to move from the sink so that she could do random things and pretended like they were important, then bade him goodnight before closing his box.

Everyone, _everyone,_ in The Playground came to see him when they heard the shouting match between Adrianna and Coulson about letting Loki out while she examined her rock. Simmons and Fitz were able to calm Coulson down and convince him that this was necessary for science. Adrianna went along with it for peace and quiet. Seriously, how could Yiruma and Celtic Woman help her concentrate when she couldn't hear them!

Then there was the business with May.

Loki literally sat looking at May while she stood watching Adrianna examine, waiting for her to jump out of her skin when she realized May was standing there. If he wasn't so reserved, Loki might've laughed hysterically at the sight of Adrianna's eyes bluing and nearly flying to the ceiling with pale faced shock.

"What the…?!" Pant, pant, "When did you get in here?"

She tilted her head to Loki's direction, his eyes glittering. "He noticed."

Adrianna browned her eyes and exhaled. "He knows every time I think about picking my nose." She shoved a thin, metal brush back into the brush case. "What can I do for you?"

"What have you found on the artifacts?"

"The box is really freaking old, and is covered in a language long dead on Earth."

"Is that all?"

Adrianna's chest constricted and she rolled her eyes to May, not moving her head. "Um, yeah."

"How long will it be before you get started on your rock?"

Adrianna blinked twice, a cocktail of curses swimming in her head. "When I'm done with this."

"And when will that be?"

A growl caught in her throat. "When. I'm. Done."

May stared at her for a moment more, then walked out. Loki watched her go, then faced Adrianna, eyes laughing.

"Don't rush my science, man." Adrianna told him. "This is history in the making."

He rolled his eyes.

"Oh sure, laugh at the Neanderthals. Not my fault you guys took this language with you back to Asgard."

He looked back at the box.

"Not from Asgard? Hmm."

Coulson burst into Adrianna's lab, yanking her from La-La Land. "Adrianna, what do you know about a guy named Bjorn Northman?"

Adrianna set the box down, brain racing her library for the name. "Um, he's a Danish billionaire. Likes his toys, some go vroom, others boom. Why?"

"Does he have a mansion?"

"Nine, actually. His favorite is near Kattegat in Norway."

"Do you have family out there?"

She stiffened. "Yes."

"Specifically a family mansion?"

She smirked. "One or two ready for immediate use."

"We need to borrow the closest one to Kattegat."

She raised her brows. "Um, okay. Why?"

"Mr. Northman is trying to purchase some toys that go boom and we need to stop him."

"Are you going to deploy Skye and May again with Tripp as backup? 'Cause seriously even the lab rats are able to see through that plan."

"Do you have a better one?"

Loki shot her a look, but she didn't see it in time. "Send someone else. He knows they're coming."

Coulson nodded. "Have you ever been to one of his parties?"

Now she understood the look. "Um… yeah. Couple times."

"Good, because you and Simmons are going undercover to one of his balls."

Miljonir would've shocked less. "Say what now?"

"I want to go to a ball." Skye complained, walking into the lab with Simmons and Fitz. "Aren't balls masked?"

"Not all of them." Simmons corrected. "This particular ball is regular."

"Um, question!" Adrianna piped, raising her hand, "How in the world are we going to enter said ball? You need an invitation and a wardrobe of the latest fashions from Milan to get in."

Coulson grinned. "That's where you and your family house in Norway come in."

"Um, how?"

"If your humble castle in France is any indication, this house will be big, elegant, and have an invite to every fancy party in the region."

Adrianna rolled her eyes. "Excuse you, we get invites to _countries_… I really need to shut up."

She caught an amused nod from Loki.

"I recommend you call the closest house to make preparations." Coulson ordered, "We leave as soon as you hang up."

"Alright then, the box comes with me."

All eyes found Coulson's. "Say what, now?"

"I'm close to cracking the language written on this box," She held up Loki's silver box, "I'm not leaving it now." She set it down.

"This takes precedence."

"Not a SHIELD agent."

"Non-negotiable."

"So lock me up. That worked so well the last time."

Coulson glared at her, then to Loki who actually grinned. "He better not come out where I can see him."

Adrianna held up two fingers. "Scout's Honor."

He turned his heel and stalked out, May fast on his heels. "She's lucky we need that damn house," Was all they heard before the door slid shut.

Skye turned to Loki, watching as his piercing emeralds slithered their way back to the new guests. "So, he hasn't said anything?"

Adrianna looked up from the box. "Oh yeah, he has a lot to say."

"Really?" Skye asked. "I haven't heard him say a word."

"Verbally, he doesn't speak."

Skye and Loki both turned to her. "I'm sorry, I thought there was only one type of speaking."

"Basic psychology. A person always communicates two ways: verbally and non-verbally. Verbally, mimes can take notes on Loki's speech. Non-Verbally, he won't shut up. Each time he pulls out a book to read, he stares at the page for about thirty minutes. Either he's teaching himself a new language or he's listening. The floors are like, paper thin, so we can both hear everything that goes on." She pointed her forefinger to the roof, "Also, he responds each time I talk to him." She dropped her hand. "I say good morning, he tilts his head in reply, I curse at the stupid commercials on Pandora, he cocks his eyebrow in agreement. He's a freaking genius, too! The man understands so much battle strategy that you've been going over, and can calculate what you're going to do next. Honestly, each time you guys do a new move, he has a blank face like he's been expecting it."

All faces were blank, Skye's eyes wide. "And, you know this, how?"

"We stare at each other using the reflections on the glass there," She pointed to the glass cupboard doors to the left, "There," She pointed to a metal tray that looked to have slipped and stopped on the counter behind and to the right of the computers, "And here." She held up the silver box. "We're getting sloppy with our staring. We're catching each other too much."

Loki stared at her with an unreadable glance. Simmons looked from him to Adrianna, to Skye. "Hang on," Skye swallowed, shaking her head and closing her eyes for a moment. "You said he can hear and understand our strategies?"

"Dude, the lab rats can hear and understand your strategies."

"Shouldn't he be put away, then?"

"He didn't appreciate that. He's in prison on Asgard. Who's he going to talk to? The wall? Thor? Me? Let us rewind, _he doesn't speak!_"

"Yeah, but you're taking him to Sweden, or wherever we're going," Skye looked to Loki, then her, "You're not worried about leaving his box behind?"

"Trust me," Adrianna picked up the silver box and rattled it from side to side, "I'm not leaving this sucker behind."

HH HH HH

Adrianna stared out the window as the helicopter pushed aside blades of grass and wildflowers as it hovered near the landing pad on her family estate. It was a black bricked place trimmed with light brown wood trim that seemed like a gigantic one story house, stacked with a medium one story house, topped by a small one story house, with a one room flat on top of that, and a pigeon house on top of that. It was the easiest estate for her to draw as a child, and the most heart-breaking as a woman to return to.

She pulled closer her backpack with Loki's box. This would be the first time one of the Asgardian gods returned to Kattegat in nearly one thousand years. Yes, this was a good emotion to let run amok in her core.

Not heartache or sorrow.

Excitement…?

"Nice place!" Coulson shouted over the din of the helicopter blades, her reflection shimmering back in his sunglasses.

Adrianna forced a smile. "Practically grew up here after six years old."

"Really, why?"

She swallowed. "Plenty of places to learn magic without torching too much. Made me think of eggs. Treat fire like an egg and you won't break a thing."

"You had the run of the place?" Triplett hollered, tearing his gaze away from the landing pad.

"The third floor was mine. I was Grandfather's favorite." She hesitated. "He gave me everything I asked for. Horses, books, journals, everything." She held her breath as the helicopter bumped onto the landing pad. "He gave me everything a girl could want."

She pulled the backpack closer, thankful Loki's never ceasing eyes were not upon her.

The doors rolled open as the propeller blades still spun, mussing everyone's hair. Adrianna jumped out first, greeting an older gentleman in a black and white suit, an indigo sash tied around his waist, his white hair tossing to and fro in the stir. "Sven!" She grinned, taking his gloved hand. "Good morning!"

"Lady Freyason, it is good to see you once more!"

She swept a hand back to the SHIELD team. "These are my guests! They'll be attending Mr. Northman's ball with me!"

"Yes, please come along with me!"

The grass was littered with wildflowers and every so often, sheep dung. As the tempo of the propeller blades faded, chickens could be heard clucking, and from afar, a river trickling. Ten paces from the landing pad, the group stepped onto a cobblestone path that massaged their soles and led to the massive structure of a house.

"How do you not get lost in a place like this?" Fitz asked, nearly tripping on a cobblestone. "Its ginormous!"

Adrianna smiled. "You do," She looked over her shoulder, "That's part of the fun."

The front doors seemed to have been taken from a Viking long house and fitted onto this doorway. When they opened, they revealed a sparkling clean foyer with a roof that stretched to the skies, a massive chandelier connecting all floors. The house was structured like a hunting lodge fit for ball gowns and courtiers. Furniture of older style and high expense littered their eyes, topped with silk runners and crystal vases with fresh flowers, the color indigo dotting the sofas and chairs in various designs. Carved dragon heads from long boats were mounted to plaques engraved with the names of the ships they were taken from decorated the walls of a comfortable sitting room off to the left, and to the right, a ball room with tiles inlaid with gold flakes and seal of interlaced Celtic style knots in the center, the entire thing colored indigo.

"Was this a palace at one point?" Simmons asked, her jaw wide open.

"It was a fortress at one point." Sven answered. "Lady Freyason, your floor has been prepared for you. Everyone else will follow me to the first floor, above."

"Why do you get your own floor?" Coulson asked, not moving as the group started to.

Adrianna felt a shiver run through her core before turning to him. "This house is mine. My dowry for when I get married."

He stared at her, his eyes swirling from behind his sunglasses. He caught that pause. Coulson nodded, then followed the group.

Adrianna walked to a small elevator covered by a glass door with shining brass trim and stepped inside, pushing a button with her Nordic name engraved on a brass tag next to the button. As the elevator began to move, she dropped her backpack and withdrew Loki's silver box. She glossed the top of the box with her fingers, tracing the foreign language with her nails. Adrianna was shaking, afraid of entering that room she knew so well.

A bell dinged and the door slid open, revealing Adrianna's floor. She inhaled, picked up her backpack and stepped into the receiving room. Her grandfather had insisted on a receiving room be built so that all visitors could be examined by her before coming into her domain. There were times when she would look through the peephole, said no, but the people came in anyway. Her brother was quite a different head of the family than her grandfather.

Beyond the brown receiving room, was a medieval style sitting room wallpapered with an indigo flower design, wooden furniture with leather seats assembled around a fireplace, a portrait of her and her brother hanging above the fireplace. She stalked through this room, ignoring his face and entered her living room that doubled as a dining room, then bedchamber. Her bed was covered by a heavy satin canopy trimmed in gold fringe and below it, a fluffy mattress so soft that the whole thing moved when she dropped her backpack on it.

Taking Loki's silver box, she moved back to the living room. This room had wood floors and an indigo carpet covering the center. Off to one of the walls was a leather and brass bound trunk that contained all of her china dolls, embroidery hoops, crochet hooks, and coloring journals and pencils, a white rocking horse waiting attentively next to it. On the opposite side of that wall was a couch with slight color stains still on the cushions, a rocking chair to the right of it and a tall backed chair near the fire place.

Gently, she rested the silver box on the toy chest and tilted the lid. Loki landed immediately before her, making her step back two paces. As soon as his eyes absorbed her, they flew around his new environment. "Welcome to Höll Sigyn." She exhaled. "My estate."

His eyes took in everything from the stains on the couch to the stack of kindling at the back of the room, then settled on her. A line formed in the center of his forehead, he knew she wasn't herself at her own palace.

"Who is Sigyn?"

His deep voice seemed to fit in the darkness of this estate. She swallowed. "Me. That's my Aesir name and what the legitimate children of my grandfather call me. To everyone else, I'm Lady Freyason." She held her hands out at her sides. "This is my floor, all of it. No one else is permitted here except the maids, the most experienced maids that is. As my prime guest, you have the run of the place, despite what Coulson says. I recommend you wait until he goes, I don't want to prolong staying here." She turned to go back to her room.

"This is your estate, Lady Adrianna. Why do you dread it?"

She froze, certain that his eyebrows raised at her delay. She looked over her shoulder. "You of all people should know that even a palace can be a prison."

HH HH HH

_Damn these mortals!_ Loki longed to spit the words, to scream them without reserve. He had watched Adrianna for an hour as she sat upon her bed and tried to not let her tremors ruin her. It was as plain as her tendrils of magic wrapped around her core like bowers of jasmine that she was abused in this house. Perhaps not physically, but her mind was shackled. Maid after maid knocked on her chamber door to summon her to the activities of the SHIELD team, but she did not reply, determined to control her childhood nightmares.

_Sigyn_. That word meant fidelity in the Midgardian tribe she descended from. Why did they call her faithful? Because she would uphold the family honor? He gripped the railing overlooking the conspiring SHIELD team, his eyes once again seeing indigo.

_"__I am from an extensive family that originates from Freya. This clan has done absolutely anything and everything to maintain the magic from the original children, including rape of other magical beings and fratricide."_

Loki closed his eyes and exhaled. The honor of her family rested in her loins, the honor holder being Lady Adrianna's husband. She was groomed to be a bride for the next magical being the head of her family desired to mate with. Decided to extend their magic with. She ran away for the opportunity to have a choice with whom she gave her heart to.

That's probably why she picked a foul name like _Adrianna_ to hide her. No one would think to look for a princess among paupers.

_Why do I care?_ He demanded himself, stepping away from the railing and gliding down the stairs, absorbing the sunlight and the endless greenery of this country. _Why should I care for such a woman? Other than the fact that she is solving my Time Piece, why should I care that she is a slave to her family?_

He stepped into the dining room being set for the SHIELD team, startling two of the maids, (apparently, there was a shrine to him somewhere on the property). He knew exactly why he cared. He simply refused to admit it.

Loki continued walking until he entered the expertly manicured tea garden, inhaling for the first time the scent of daffodils, roses, and poppies along with the intoxicating smell of freshly cut grass. He balled his fists, unable to stop the truth from revealing itself to his mind. Adrianna, _Sigyn_, was a stolen relic like he was, locked up until she had a use for her family. He had felt the magic behind the color of her eyes and hair, and seen the pain in her features as she walked through her room. She was an enchantress of the highest pedigree. A birthing record could easily be modified for the gain of the legitimate strain.

He also knew that if she was an Aesir, even partially, she was also not as young as she appeared. Her "grandfather" could be her sire, only deemed thus for the sake of appearances.

"Well, look who decided to show up." Coulson's voice sneered, making Loki's head turn.

"Shut up, Coulson. I haven't been here in a while."

"Sven has informed us that you and two friends have been invited to Mr. Northman's ball. Tripp and Simmons are going with you."

"Alright. Tripp, you have a tux?"

"Just got fitted, its being tailored now."

"I had no idea that you owned such fine clothing, Adrianna!" Simmons squealed, "The gown for me is absolutely stunning!"

"You better not spill wine on it, I haven't worn that gown yet."

Coulson cleared his throat. "You guys are going to be looking to get into Mr. Northman's conference room. Skye?"

Loki moved toward the dining room, straining his ears to hear. "Bjorn Northman likes to conduct his business over a game of poker. Very few-"

"Hardly an outsider is invited into the poker room." Lady Adrianna interrupted. "It's going to have to be me getting in there."

"Can you do it?" Ice May inquired.

"Depends." She inhaled, "Simmons, Tripp, you'll be representing me. That means upmost manners, best foot forward on the dance floor, the works. Absolutely no shortcuts, you got it? If anyone asks, you're friends from my dig site excursions. Simmons, you're a forensic anthropologist, Triplett, you're a weapons expert, got it?"

They both made agreeable noises. Loki entered the dining room then leaned on the doorframe to the parlor where they worked. They had turned the entire library into a media spot complete with four portable information glasses and a box with signal. With an exception for Lady Adrianna and the butler, no one noticed him come in. Skye tapped away on her glass, summoning pictures of an elder man he assumed were "Bjorn Northman."

"When is the ball?" Lady Adrianna asked, shifting her weight.

_She wants to leave this place._

"Tomorrow night at six." Sven answered, handing her a scarlet invitation with gold lettering. "Your gown is in your wardrobe, Lady Freyason."

She forced a smile. "Thank you, Sven. I saw it earlier."

"What did I say about Loki in my sight?"

Each eye turned to him except Sven's, his body bowed slightly. "His box must've opened in my backpack," Lady Adrianna told him, eyes locked on him, a slight smile on her lips. "I'll close it when we're done here."

HH HH HH

Loki's box was never closed, and he was enjoying himself annoying Coulson, frightening Agent Fitz, watching Lady Adrianna, and being worshipped by the servants. They offered him libations of fine ale from the far reaches of Midgard, and offered him sympathy for his time in "prison".

The night before the ball, Lady Adrianna couldn't sleep so she found him and offered him a tour of the grounds. Flowers of all colors swayed in the moonlight, stopped by cobblestone pathways that led to a vast fjord, mountains carpeted with grass bordering the banks. "What a palace to have." He commented, watching rabbits scurry from them. "Why would you want to depart so soon?"

She wore a long coat trimmed in fur, her hood drawn so that her face was darker than regular. "This is where my brother can find me." She confessed, her arms wrapping around her body. "It's never good when he can find me."

He snorted. "I can relate."

She nodded. "I'm weary of this ball tomorrow."

"Frightened that your gown won't fit?"

"Do not presume I'm so vain." She shot him a look. "I've dealt with Bjorn before. I've never seen him to conduct business at a ball like this. Third party negotiation? He's never done that!" She shook her hood. "Loki, I know you're only here because of your own reasons, but may I ask a favor?"

He looked down at her, unwillingly falling into her mead colored eyes. "A favor?"

She nodded, "If I am gone for more than thirty minutes and you or the servants can't find me, could you please alert Agent Coulson?"

He raised his eyebrow. "You're afraid you will be kidnapped by your rapist, fratricidal family, aren't you?"

She nodded. "I've been engaged to be married since I was seven years old. I ran away from him and my brother the day before the wedding. They've been hunting me ever since. If they do find me, they'll force me to marry. They don't care if I'm happy so long as the fruit from the marriage is a child with both magical qualities from myself and my fiancé." She closed her eyes and wet her lips. "I deserve someone who makes me happy. We all do."

"How do you know you will not be happy with him?"

They reached a wooden dock with three boats tied to the posts, the moon a perfect circle in the sky. "We are not acquainted well enough for me to tell you that, Loki." She drifted over the dock, a familiar look on her face. "I grew up with him, played with him as a child. He hurt me, so much…"

She wouldn't stop walking. Her fingers touched the posts but Loki was sure she didn't feel anything but numb. Her eyes were pointed at the moon, but what they saw, he didn't know. A knife sliced through his core, watching this woman drift closer and closer to the edge of the dock. She knew so much about him, saw so much that she neglected to tell the SHIELD team. Loki had to kill her, what if she was a double agent?

But her face haunted him. At The Playground, she was so willing to break into a smile, so eager to talk to him when he would only stare at her. Here, that smile was a phantom of what used to be. Her figure of white coat cut eerily the image of blackened fjord and slightly illuminated dock, the moon giving her a protruding halo around her hood. The edge of the dock was dangerously close…

His arms wrapped around her neck before he knew what he was doing, one at the front the other giving pressure to the back. She squirmed in his arms, her mind coming back to her as she flailed her arms. All at once, her arms dropped and her body slumped, unconscious from lack of breath. He stepped back and cradled her in his grasp, watching her serene face as she slept.

Then picked her up,

And carried her inside.

Not knowing why in the hell he was saving this woman that he knew he should kill.

HH HH HH

Adrianna sat next to Simmons as the servants curled and sprayed her hair for the ball. She had awoken this morning in her bed, fur coat still on. There was a moment last night when she actually thought, _considered_ committing suicide in the fjord. Of all people who could have saved her, of all people who could have stopped her, she never thought it would be Loki.

Honestly, what was she to him? Nothing.

Geeta, a maid hired specifically for hair and makeup, turned the red leather swivel chair and placed a mirror in front of Adrianna, revealing a beauty with pinned curled hair half atop her head, the rest cascading down her back. Her makeup was perfectly done, giving her a light smoky eye and shimmering lips. Adrianna smiled, turning to Geeta. "Excellent."

Geeta smiled, her round cheeks reddening. "Thank you, Lady Freyason."

"I've never had so much hairspray in my life!" Simmons exclaimed, looking at herself from a stool near the doorway. Her hair was braided across the back of her head and pinned into a bun behind her left ear. "But this is utterly beautiful!"

"You look amazing." Fitz stammered, patting his hair after squirting a bit of hairspray on his tight curls. "The both of you do."

"I'm still freaking out that you have a hair and makeup salon in your house." Skye commented, wearing a lip gloss recommended by Geeta. "This is officially cool."

"We went to a lot of debutante balls, fancy parties, and gatherings when we all lived here." Adrianna told them. "The salon was brought to us."

"Alright, ladies!" Geeta called, "Gowns next, gentlemen out!"

Adrianna had brought her dress down to the guest floor so that she could be helped into it in case she fell flat on her face… again. The gown was the highlight piece from a designer who loved dressing the Freyason women, this particular one was made with Adrianna in mind. The skirt was emerald and slit on one side to the thigh, the bodice was crossed over her breasts to expose a part of her stomach and wrapped around gold circle straps that started at the nape of her neck, ran under her pits, connected in her back by a crystal encrusted loop, then wrapped around her waist leaving her back completely exposed.

She stared at the dress for several moments until she heard Simmons step out in hers. "You look gorgeous, Gemma!"

"This is the most beautiful dress I've ever worn!"

Adrianna took her gown off the hanger and removed her robe. Carefully, she stepped into the skirt and shimmied the garment into place, not daring to look at herself in the mirror. She adjusted the gown to cover the right places, closing her eyes as she felt her exposed flesh rise with goose bumps. She held her breath as she fastened her gold shoes dotted with rhinestones, then stood.

Inhaling deeply, she stood and walked out from behind the dressing screen into the guest room.

The women had moved out to the hallway where Simmons was modeling her strapless, sparkling blue and blush dress. The blue comprised of sapphire rhinestones shaping flowers on the bodice that faded into strands on the bell blush skirt. Her shoes were also sapphire and t-strapped for better dancing quality. All at once, the chatter stopped and all eyes found Adrianna, Coulson's eyes widening.

Adrianna rolled her eyes. "I know, I look ridiculous."

"If that is 'ridiculous', then I have been using the term improperly all my days."

A chill ran down her spine. Slowly, she turned. Loki stood in the doorway, a smile on his lips and eyes dancing.

"I think you look hot." Triplett replied, eyes sweeping her frame.

Loki stepped forward, eyes glued to Adrianna's. "On Asgard, we call women of your beauty _elskan._"

A smile spread across her features. "_Elskan_ is what my family would call the 'belle' of the ball."

He nodded. "Precisely." He lifted his hand to brush her chin. "Chin elevated, _elskan_. Let the wolves know exactly where the axe should fall if they want those pretty lips silenced."

Chills ran down her spine as she felt the buzz of magic on her skin, but not flesh. Coulson's step neared her side and she blinked back into reality. "There won't be any beheadings today, Loki. This is our plan, not yours."

Loki's eyes flashed to him. "Are you sure that you have enough tricks up your sleeve to believe that, Director Coulson?"

Adrianna smiled, his mischievous grin rubbing off on her features. "Come on Coulson, we'll be late for the ball." She winked to Loki as she stepped away.

They turned to walk down the grand staircase, Coulson walking shoulder-to-shoulder with her. "What's he talking about?" Coulson hissed once they were a safe distance away.

"He's the God of Mischief, Coulson. He's a master planner and has probably heard every detail of this plan and figured out several ways for it to triumph or fail."

"Why does he know every detail of this plan?"

"He listens like I do."

He stopped her just before stepping downstairs. "Have you kept your end of the bargain?"

She nodded. "He sees a lot, I don't know what he's figured out on his own."

"Why do you insist on having him out?"

"It annoys you and he's great to talk to."

"He's the enemy, Adrianna. He's not some guy you met at a coffee shop."

"I'm not an enemy." Loki sneered, making Coulson jump. "I'm a prisoner."

Adrianna stifled a laugh as Coulson's eyes bulged and he shifted to nearly fall down the stairs. "You first, Coulson." She cooed, touching his arm. "I'll make sure he doesn't push you."

Loki snorted. "You speak as though such a thing was probable."

Adrianna smiled and turned to Coulson. "Go, its fine. I promise."

Coulson, eyes glued to Loki, carefully maneuvered his feet to step downstairs while gradually making his way to the banister. Adrianna turned to Loki, the two of them exchanging wicked smiles. She leaned into him and whispered, "Sven can take you out of the house if you want. He is bound to this house so he will have to bring the box back, but you can do what you please until we get back from the ball."

He froze, face unreadable. "Why are you helping me?" His emeralds held her in place.

She smirked and flashed her blues. "I hate Northman's balls. So… _boring_."

Then turned.

And glided down the stairs.

HH HH HH

_Kill her now!_ Everything in Loki's being screamed it, his hands even flexed and he leaned forward to shove her down the stairs. The height of her shoes, her cocky demeanor, one apt shove and her neck could break before she hit the bottom stair. Or she could have a concussion that was severe enough for her to die.

Either way, it was inevitable. Lady Adrianna_ needed _to die!

She knew too much about him. This allowance for him to leave Höll Sigyn, her preference for his company, this was far too much for him to allow. Loki knew that he needed to stop playing with her intrigue and allure and end her.

But he couldn't understand why he stood struck atop the stairs, watching her wrap an emerald and fur trim mid-length cloak about her shoulders, Lady Simmons donning a blush satin wrap, and float out the front doors as though they were courtier and lady-in-waiting. This was ridiculous! Why, _why_, was he engaged with this… _mortal?_

She wasn't a mortal.

She wasn't a mere woman either.

She was a lady worthy of the Asgardian court. She was a woman of science and study, as well with an intelligence exceeding ordinary courtiers. And she was _toying with him_. A lady bored at a _ball?_ He never thought it possible for a maiden as fair as she would be bored at a fine gathering as a ball.

He shook his head and headed back to her floor, ignoring the obeisance of a maid as she dropped to her knees. _I saved her from ending her own life._ He thought, furious. _She thought it to be her only escape._ He entered her receiving area and thrust open the doors to the parlor. _Suicide only brings more demons than those that pre-inhabit a body._ He closed his eyes, seeing the piercing sapphires of Thor flood as he screamed, his ankle caught in Odin's firm grasp, unable to close the gap that Loki had made.

Loki flashed open his eyes, turning toward the sound of Sven enter the parlor. The butler bowed at the waist, a short motion for his position of honor. "I am at your disposal this night, your Excellency."

"Disposal for what? The only interesting mortal has run off…" Suddenly, Loki straightened. "What would a guest at this ball dress like?"

Sven extended his arm to Lady Adrianna's living room and stepped back. "The finest linen for the God of Mischief. Not a strand on record for your grace's discretion."

Loki smirked, then took a step forward.

HH HH HH

Triplett traipsed his way with Simmons back to where Adrianna stood, her forehead in her palm. The ball was an elegant affair complete with a full orchestra from Russia, hors d'oeuvre from Paris, and the finest gowns and tuxedos from all reaches of the globe. Adrianna had been addressed by local Norwegians including Mr. Northman as "Lady Freyason" and tolerated as an exile-on-ceasefire. Of course, this label would be better served if Simmons would stop over-acting like a forensic anthropologist getting excited over shrimp, and Triplett like James Bond including American ignorance and Secret Service stance and stare.

Adrianna brought her rhinestone studded bracelet with a microphone to her lips and looked around before hissing, "Coulson, these are the kind of people that can tell fakes from the real thing. Either get us off the dance floor or get ready for us to be discovered."

The ballroom was bigger than hers and filled with people conversing and dancing, the walls decorated with framed stuccos from Rome and ancient civilizations, the high ceiling causing the voices to bounce off everything to amplify. Despite the décor and chatter, she was still able to hear Coulson clearly. "We're far from hearing or seeing anything. Can't you dance with someone rich and can get us in?"

Adrianna looked around, her eyes catching several men sweeping her frame. "These are businessmen, Coulson." She admitted, turning away. "They don't invest in what failed in trial runs and needs obvious work."

"Not that much work!" Simmons protested, stepping away from Triplett.

"Sorry, but it's true."

"Wanna dance?" Triplett asked, holding out his hand.

"Do it," Coulson commanded. "Simmons, see what you can find on the floor."

Reluctantly, Adrianna took Triplett's hand and let him pull her onto the dance floor. He held her too tightly, and kept stepping on his own feet let alone hers. "You look nice." He smiled, moving too fast for the tempo of the orchestra.

Adrianna bit the inside of her cheek. "So do you."

"I suck at dancing."

"I couldn't tell."

"Come on, dance with me."

"I'm trying, you're making it difficult."

"Excuse me," A cold voice stopped them before his arm on Triplett's did. "May I cut in?

They both turned and froze when they saw Loki, dressed in a black tuxedo with tails, white shirt with gold buttons, black vest, black bow tie, and long emerald sash tied around his waist that fell to his knees in style of the Norwegian men, his hair slicked back to camouflage with the black coat. In his hand, he held a glass of champagne and upon his face, a look of absolute shame. "Hold this," He handed off his glass to Triplett and took Adrianna's hand. In one swift move, he bent his neck, kissed her knuckles, then pulled her close, "Let me make you sweat for the right reasons."

Then she felt like a swan, and took flight.

Loki held her to his chest like a mother with a newborn, sweeping her about the dance floor in tune with the music and making her dress sway properly and swiftly so that it could not tangle about her feet. Adrianna smiled and looked back to her partner, only to straighten with shock when she saw a different, slightly less handsome face before her. "What?" He asked, his voice the same baritone and his eyes dancing with mischief, "I'm recognizable around these people."

"Where'd you learn to dance?"

"The Asgardian court is filled with courtiers from around the realms, including a few from Midgard that made it off this rock."

She giggled and let him dip her low so that her leg was exposed to make the wealthy men in the ballroom stare and the women sneer.

Loki pulled her straight in a slow, meaningful manner, a smirk on his cheeks. "You're a liar."

"What do you mean?"

The music changed to a tango. "You're comfortable around opulence as this." He stepped forward, making her move back. "You're enjoying yourself far too much to be bored."

Adrianna cupped the back of his neck, pulling her body incredibly close to his lips, his left hand catching her right as they moved with the guests. "I've been to one or two of these and debutante balls."

"And you were _elskan _of them all, I'll bet."

He turned her in a rough move that worked so well it almost seemed rehearsed, but instead of twirling her the whole way, he pulled her into his chest so that her back nestled perfectly with his front and he wrapped his arm beneath her breast. "Their sweetheart," She exhaled, turning to peer at his stolen face. "Some of the men seemed to think so."

He turned her to continue dancing. "The maidens too. You seem the type to outshine even the brightest diamond."

She smiled and let him twirl her with expert hands. "Seriously, where did you learn how to dance?"

He winked at her. "That is for me to know, and you to guess."

The music faded and the sound of clapping could be heard around them. Adrianna stepped from him and looked around, immediately feeling heat creep into her cheeks. She turned back to Loki, her face red with embarrassment.

They were the only two on the dance floor.

Loki bowed slightly at the waist, prompting her to give a slight curtsy. Gently, he pulled her close and whispered, "_Þú eiga skilið að vera miðpunktur athygli svona."_

Adrianna took his hand and led him off the dance floor, his words echoing in her ear. _"You deserve to be the center of attention like this."_

"Would someone like to tell me how Loki got out of the house!"

Adrianna winced, her hand flinching to her earpiece. Loki smiled. "I believe the appropriate term would be, midnight has struck."

Adrianna giggled and raised her bracelet. "Hello, Godmother. I was beginning to miss you."

"I've been screaming for the last ten minutes!"

"Now why don't I have trouble believing that?"

"Simmons, have you found anything?"

"Nothing. No one appears to be talking."

"Tripp?"

"Coulson, man. I don't think our guys are here. I think we missed them."

"Our intel said Northman and his buyer would be here at this party. Has anyone moved downstairs?"

May's voice came on the radio, Adrianna didn't even know where she was positioned. "No one has gone up or downstairs. If they're here, they're in the crowd."

"Coulson," Adrianna hissed, "I've never seen Bjorn to conduct business at a ball as this _as well as_ conduct through third party. He meets with the sellers personally."

Coulson paused. "Alright everyone, eyes up. We'll give this job another fifteen minutes before calling it a bust."

"Got it."

"Understood, sir."

Adrianna looked to Loki. "Fifteen minutes, then back to the hotel."

He looked over her shoulder, then flashed his eyes back to her. "There's a man who has gazed upon you the moment you took the dance floor. Beneath the ancient tiled lion, difficult to miss." He took her hand and steered her towards the opening to the gardens, the fluttering curtains concealing her gaze to where Loki told her. Stalks of twigs in white vases strung with multicolored lights illuminated the back walls all around the occupied rooms, one particular vase casting a red light over a mosaic of an Assyrian lion.

She felt her heart stop and her grip constrict his. Loki turned and hissed, "What is it?"

"I-I…"

"Let go of my hand!"

Adrianna couldn't move. She could barely breathe.

HE was here. HE was watching.

Loki grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him. "_Sigyn,_ tell me."

"What's going on?" Coulson demanded.

Loki maneuvered them to a corner, grabbing her bracelet and lifting it to his mouth. "Lady Adrianna has seen someone, she's frozen."

"Is it our guy?"

Loki turned to her, his eyes searching her face for a solid thought but Adrianna couldn't compose one. All she could think of was HIM. Coulson exhaled impatience. "Adrianna, is it our guy?"

She shook her head. "Its HIM."

"Tripp, Simmons, we've got him."

"No you don't, Coulson."

"Shut up, Loki! You're not a part of this mission!"

He cocked his brow and dropped her wrist. "Who is he?" He whispered, stepping close to her, his eyes changing to his natural emerald and face back to pale god. _"Elskan,_ who is the one who watches us?"

It took Adrianna a minute to realize Loki held her hands in his, a proper hold, and that their world had paused. She turned full circle, watching bees hover idle above lilies, and women with their heads back mid-laugh, frozen like paintings. HIS eyes glaring directly at her.

A glimpse spell.

She turned back to him, the _real_ Loki, and inhaled. "The one who calls himself The Executioner."

"He is important to you?"

She straightened and pursed her lips, releasing from her core a truth that she had sealed like Fort Knox. "He was the trunk of my Yggdrasil."

His frame illuminated gold and his face returned to borrowed handsome. "In that case, these next few moments will be rather interesting."

He snapped his fingers.

And chaos erupted.

HH HH HH

"Coulson, I think we found the Hulk's brother!" Fitz shouted as both he and Skye nearly jammed their noses into their hologram screens.

"What's happening?" Coulson demanded, eyes widening as a man the size of a planet withdrew a massive gun and fired at the chandelier, forcing the structure to slip from secure chains and shatter into a thousand facets, guests in gowns running everywhere.

"This guy just started shooting like it was Halo!" Skye told him. "Simmons! Tripp! What's going on?"

HH HH HH

Adrianna stood watching HIM shoot out the chandelier like HE was at the arcade in Stockholm galleria with a roll of quarters. People rushed around her ears with faces of terror and glamour, women nearly slipping on their gowns and high heels and men nearly slipping on them. They yelled at her to get away, but she couldn't move.

For moments, she didn't even breathe.

Loki had disappeared, the result of Sven fearing for his life and the god he carried and whisked him and the silver box back to Höll Sigyn. Simmons cowered behind an overturned hors d'oeuvre table, screaming frantically into her bracelet. Triplett had discarded his James Bond façade and began firing back at HIM, trying desperately to land an Icer bullet on HIS massive frame.

Before she knew it, Adrianna's feet began to move toward HIM.

Her heels crunched on shattered crystals from the chandelier and champagne glasses dropped in the fray and her hands swayed at her sides, faintly touching overturned silks and fluttering curtains.

"Adrianna, get down!" Triplett hollered, his back against a granite pillar.

HE glanced at her from over HIS gun, HIS stature softening when HE saw her step onto the dance floor, her gown sweeping over the scarlet seal of the House of Northman that stopped in the center of the ruby studded mosaic.

Triplett growled and stopped firing, yelling something to Coulson in frustration. HE also stopped firing, HIS gun actually lowering as HE craned HIS massive head to look at her.

Adrianna swallowed. "Scott?"

He inhaled, his eyes unyielding. "Amora."

A tear slid down her cheek, stomach knotting. "Its been a while."

He nodded, his face softening. "Eight years, nine months, sixteen days."

"What are you doing here?"

His severity returned. "I've come to get you. Bring you home."

She cleared her throat. "Scott, you don't have to do this."

He stepped around the granite pillar that shielded him and stomped to the champagne pyramid, taking it in one hand, and flipped it, sending all five hundred glasses shattering to the tiles. She flinched, her breath catching in her palm. "I've searched, _eight years, nine months, and sixteen days!_" He thundered, bringing his gun to eye level as Triplett poked his head out. "I looked for you!" His voice echoed through the ballroom, sending her bone marrow into a curl of fear. "If I didn't, I'd never see you again!"

Tears mixed with makeup trailed down her face. "Scott, please-"

He pointed his gun at her, a wild, hurt look in his eyes. "My name is Skurge, The Executioner!"

He fired.

Adrianna passed her hands over each other to summon a Viking shield, the bronze bound seal atop the wood catching the bullet. She lowered the shield, her chin dipping and eyes narrowing. "Don't make me defend myself." She fixed her arm in the leather straps. "I will do it, Scott."

"I don't care what you do," He growled. "You're coming with me."

She extended her right arm, a battleaxe materializing in her palm in a glow of green light. "No, I'm not."

Skurge smirked and holstered his gun behind his back. "So be it."

He thundered toward her, his heavy footsteps making shards of crystal jump with movement. Adrianna lifted her shield and side stepped him, swiping his back with the blunt end of her axe, making him fall face first onto the tiled seal.

Skurge writhed for a moment on the floor, giving Adrianna enough time to kick herself a safe fighting zone, her heels strapped firmly around her ankles so she couldn't slip them off. His massive frame rose and he turned, his nose bleeding. Seething, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a six inch knife. "Let's do this."

He attacked her, Adrianna meeting his blows with her shield, the steel knife causing sparks to fly off the bronze. She reached over and whacked him with her axe on the shoulder, causing him to wince in pain.

Suddenly, her ankle twisted and they fell. Adrianna tried slipping her arm out of her shield straps, but Skurge grabbed it in his mighty paws and pinned it aside, making her limb stretch painfully and her cry slightly. She brought her axe upward, but he grabbed her wrist, his fingers almost overlapping.

"Give it up!" He screamed, eyes blazing. "Enough Amora!"

"I can't!" She yelled, eyes blinding with tears. "The day I do, you die!" Her chest heaved, "You'll die seeing me marry your brother and not you, I know you will!"

"But first he'll crash for a few hours."

They both looked up to see Triplett with a Night-Night Gun that he fired into Skurge's skull.

HH HH HH

Adrianna sat on pins and needles as the limousine pulled up the driveway to Höll Sigyn, her mind buzzing with things she needed to pack in five minutes. Light spilled from the entryway and Coulson's shadowy figure was elongated on the cobblestone. She didn't care. They had to leave Skurge on the dance floor like a nameless corpse, knowing that he would be too much for them to handle when he awoke. The car hadn't even stopped when Adrianna was opening the door and limping up the stairs.

"What the hell happened?" Coulson thundered. "Adrianna! Who was that?"

"One of the secrets that needs to be told." She brushed passed him and hobbled to a Geeta, throwing her arm around her shoulders and bringing her sore foot up to paw at the clasp. "I need to get out of here." She told Coulson as Sven nearly slid to her to unbuckle her shoes. "I need to run."

"What are you talking about? What was that back there?!"

"His name is Skurge the Executioner." She panted, lifting her other foot for Sven to release that one. "He and his brother aren't local, if you get my drift."

"What are they, Asgardian?"

She looked at him as Sven rose, her shoes in hand. "Not everyone is from Asgard." She released Geeta, slapped her hands together, rubbed them causing a yellow glow to emit, and rubbed her hands over her leg and ankle, exhaling as she felt the pain evade her like a cat rubbing against freshly shaved skin. "I need to leave you. Non negotiable."

She ran up the stairs, Sven on her heels. "Adrianna, wait!" Coulson called.

She turned to Sven, the older man not missing a step. "Escape procedure," She breathed, picking up her skirt to run faster, "Don't let anyone know I'm leaving."

"Of course, Lady Freyason."

"Where is my guest?"

"Back in your room, my lady. He has many questions."

"I want his wardrobe off the books." She lowered his voice. "None but the servants know where that tuxedo came from."

"Adrianna!"

"Of course, my lady. It has already been taken care of."

"Go, prepare one of the escape cars for my departure. I'll let you know when I'm safe."

"It was good seeing you once more, Lady Freyason."

"And you, Sven."

Sven stepped away, Coulson replacing him. "What was that back there? What secrets do you need to tell me?"

"Skurge, also known as Scott Ríki Stökk. He has an elder brother named Theoric, known as Erick Ríki Stökk, my fiancé." She inhaled, her chest tightening as she realized she had never told an outsider this, "They are realm jumpers."

"Come again?"

"They can jump from realm to realm without a spaceship or oxygen or anything like that." They reached her receiving room. "My brother wants to force me to marry Theoric for a legitimate child combining my abilities with Theoric's. I need to go."

"Go where?"

She inhaled, opening the door to her parlor. "I don't know." She stalked in, her eyes catching Loki sitting before a fire, his demeanor cold as he waited for her. "I'm taking the Asgardian relics, I can study them at a safe place, then send you the findings." She burst into the living room then bedchamber, grabbing her backpack from a sitting stool and rushing to her wardrobe.

"Adrianna, wait."

"I can find a safe place for Loki." She told him over her shoulder as she ripped her clothes from the hangers along with several other clothes that she didn't bring and shoved them into her backpack. "I promise he won't be any more trouble."

A hand grabbed her shoulder and turned her, Coulson's face coming into view, Loki's behind him. "What's _wrong?_"

"Lady Adrianna," Loki cooed, eyes glaring. "You're bleeding."

Adrianna touched her cheek, noticing for the first time the streak of blood oozing from her temple. "I need to go." She repeated. "I need to change, then go."

She made for her washroom but Coulson stopped her. "Come here!"

"No Coulson!" She stretched her hand to the washroom, Loki stepping back, eyes wide. "Let me go! Please, just let me go!"

"Stop!"

She whirled on him. "I can't!" By the look in his eyes, she was wild. Her heart pounded against her chest, her fists tight balls ready to defend herself. "I have to go! He's found me, I need to leave."

"Skurge was your lover at one point in time, was he not?" Loki asked, watching her.

"Yes!" She didn't dare look at Loki. "Yes he was." She tried backing away but Coulson held her firm in his grasp. "Please, let me go!"

"I can't," He confessed, his face etched with concern. "Not until you tell me what's scaring you."

Adrianna, chest tight, lips dry, turned to Loki, praying that he would understand her meaning. "He's found me. My brother has found me." She faced Coulson. "If I don't marry Erick, Theoric, my brother will kill me and whoever I fall in love with." Her tears gushed down her face. "He'll kill Scott, then force me to live here." She looked around her palace, at all the finery and grandeur. "I'll be his trophy until Theoric wants to visit me again. He'll _rape_ me for a child! This is something that was in motion before I could know what the hell I was agreeing to, this is _arranged! _By my grandfather, then my brother!"

"SHIELD can help you," Coulson cooed, "We can hide you-"

"What good is a cracked shield?" She screamed, her eyes bluing with hysteria. "A cracked shield is only good until it's hit! _Hard!_ After that, it splits and has no more use!" She ripped her hands from his grasp. "I need to leave, Coulson. I need to run."

"How long will you be running, _Sigyn?_" He demanded. "You've changed everything about you _out of fear_." His chest heaved slightly, his tenor lowering. "Stop running. Come with us, we might not be a whole agency, but we can protect you."

Adrianna's mind raced a million tracks at once. She knew that the longer she waited, the closer Skurge and her brother were to finding her. The closer _Theoric_ was to finding her.

"Lady Adrianna," Loki's cold voice breathed, prompting her to turn. "It would be in your best interest to remain in your estate for the evening. Your servants are on high alert along with the SHIELD team present. It would be folly for your brother or Skurge to attack tonight, or quite stupid. They know you are going to run, the best time would be as you were leaving the estate."

Coulson turned to him. "Why do you care?"

"I may be the villainous type, Agent Coulson, but my blood tends to boil when I hear of a maiden in such a compromising position as this."

"Aren't you a gentleman."

"He's right," Adrianna croaked, looking to both men. "That's what happened four years ago. They almost got me leaving Paris."

"Then stay," Coulson breathed, stepping forward. "We can protect you, we're good at that even with half an agency."

Adrianna looked at him. "Coulson, the ball was most likely a ruse Skurge set up to draw me out of hiding. Bjorn Northman's magical line ended before I was born making him a relative and friend of the family, he would be delighted to do whatever my family asked. Skurge is a master planner, if he knows how to draw me out then he knows who you and your team are."

Coulson smiled. "He doesn't know what we're like when we're prepared for a fight."

HH HH HH

Loki listened from the dining room as Lady Adrianna told the SHIELD team the occurrences in her room. He seethed in the darkness, wishing he could drink the ale presented to him. Lady Adrianna knew she was toying with him with her taunts before the ball, playing on his curiosity.

But her face at the ball…

Before he had to recall himself into his box, he saw the look she gave this "Skurge." It was the look of a lost lover reconciled. He gave her that same look when she was turned away from him before she realized he was there, on the dance floor with him.

Loki closed his eyes, recalling the scent of her perfume on her neck as he held her from behind. The way she took flight in his arms, her steady breath as they moved, she was indeed a princess! He frowned, remembering the sight of her standing alone and watching the other dancers and their partners. She was a woman unused, not properly worshipped by those who should have feared her. He felt a pang of sadness knowing that this fine maiden meant about the same as the servant who decorated her hair and face to her brother and "fiancé".

He opened his eyes, chest heaving slowly. Skurge knew her worth as these men of power did not. He had loved her to the fullest degree of his life, why else would he willingly become an errand boy for the head of these families, he being a realm jumper?

He pushed back the ever occurring thought, _Why should I care?_

This maiden, this _enchantress_, deserved to be treated like a queen. Her intelligence and wit commanded it alone, forgetting her heart and beauty. Even her kindness was to be envied. He wet his lips as he called to mind her face in the mornings at The Playground. Her eyes were opened three-quarters, her cosmetics slightly askew, and a steaming cup of tea beside her. Despite her appearance, she bade him a good morning when everyone else thought him nothing more than an abandoned dog who had bitten them out of survival.

"So your family is like Game of Thrones?"

He turned his head to the dining room door, his eyebrow arching at the sound of Lady Skye's voice.

Lady Adrianna seemed to nod. "Literally. Legits vs. Bastards every decade for the head of the family title."

"And you're from the legitimate strain?" Lady Simmons asked.

Lady Adrianna paused. "I'm not sure." She pushed her hair back, "My grandfather was an older man when the Nazis invaded, about two hundred years old. He needed to hide the strain in a newer world so he created both his Legitimate and Bastard strains. I…" She inhaled, Loki stood. "I was born in 1959. That's all I know, I never met my birth mother. That same year he lost a mistress and his wife so I could be either a Legit or Bastard. I do know that my grandfather is actually my father who told me to call him 'grandfather' because he was old and knew he was going to die during my teenage years. Freaky, I know, just let me get through it, okay?

"Theoric and his brother crash landed on Earth when I was considered to be seven, so about fourteen. I don't really remember the particulars, but they came up with this idea that the head of the Stökk family should unite by marriage his family and the House of Freyason, meaning me and Theoric. We grew up together because Theoric was about sixteen, I don't know how old he really is, and Skurge fourteen. Over the years, I fell in love with Skurge. He was sweet, kind, very loving. I don't know when my brother found out about us, but he wasn't the slightest bit pleased when he eventually told me to stop being intimate with Skurge."

She exhaled. "He said if I didn't marry Theoric, if I ran away with Skurge, he would kill Skurge, and force me to marry Theoric. My charming fiancé agreed to these terms. Condemned his own brother for some stupid contract."

Loki leaned against the doorframe, her eyes immediately finding his. "That's why I won't be with you guys for very long." She told him. "Skurge will find me here as much as he will find me with all of you. I need to make up a new I. D., passport, the works." She exhaled. "I need to get off the grid for a time."

"Where would you go?" May asked, "If this man can find you with SHIELD, who's to say he can't find you in hiding?"

"The last time I hid, it was in plain sight. I stayed in Paris for three weeks after they almost caught me, came up with the name of Adrianna Saldivar, then faded away. No problems."

"You will have to be quite creative with your disguise this time around." Loki told her. "He seemed rather annoyed with your games."

Coulson pointed at him, "You and I are going to have a conversation later tonight that you are going to find unpleasant."

Loki rolled his eyes, "Some foreplay before we go at it, dear." He looked back and at Lady Adrianna, catching her smile and gesturing to her foot. "Your ankle must stop swelling before you run anywhere, Lady Adrianna."

She looked down, noticing for the first time the grapefruit under her flesh. "Sven, can I get some ice?"

"Certainly, Lady Freyason."

"How do you not feel that?" Simmons asked, "That's a sprain."

"Pain spell," Lady Adrianna smiled, "Can't feel a thing in my leg."

Loki felt his heart pound at the thought of a pain spell that effective. Only he and one of his classmates could produce an enchantment that powerful at her age.

"Lady Freyason," Geeta called, "Would you like to rest now, give your foot time to recover?"

Lady Adrianna nodded. "Yes, please."

HH HH HH

Loki was rather annoyed by the time, Whatever- His- Title, Coulson was done screaming at him. He threatened him, growled, snarled, and amused Loki, until finally he grew annoyed with his stare and stalked away, demanding to know the location of his silver box. Sven had hidden his box the moment they returned to Höll Sigyn from the ball, returnable only to Lady Adrianna.

Slowly, he walked to Lady Adrianna's temporary chambers on the guest floor, (Lady Simmons did not want her to aggravate her swollen ankle). She welcomed him the moment she felt his presence enter her room. "Hey, Loki."

He smirked and sat at the edge of her bed, her foot propped on pillows with a bag of ice resting atop it. "How long does it take you to recover?"

"This will be about two hours." She looked down, "Sorry to interrupt your night out."

"I thought it was fun." He smiled, "You dance elegantly."

"I've had practice." She smiled, "What can I do for you?"

He swallowed, "If I was Skurge, I would attack head on, shake you from the oak." She inhaled, but listened. "If I had a sample of your blood, I could find you."

"How?"

He smiled. "I have my ways." His smile faded. "Would you consent?"

Lady Adrianna looked at him, then withdrew a folding knife from her blanket. With a _flick!_ she released the blade and pierced her thumb. "Use it well," She told him, holding out her arm.

Gently, he took her hand and lifted it to his lip, licking the metallic liquid from her flesh. Honestly, he wanted to know exactly how powerful she was. This was a bonus. "I don't want to know, do I?"

His eyes flicked to her. "What do you mean?"

"A hologram that can wear a tuxedo, dance, and lick my finger?" She paused. "I'm not going to ask. You're a prisoner like me, both bound to people we thought were like family and held in their captivity." She withdrew her hand, "Thank y-"

_BANG!_

The entire window wall was ripped away, wind whipping back and forth from a helicopter, the cutting sounds deafening their ears. Loki held her hand, shielding her with his arm. He felt the magic yank at him, "No!" He shouted, "Not yet!"

The magic tugged at him, Coulson's step thundering to them. He looked at Lady Adrianna as men dressed in black swung into her room from cords. He needed to keep the façade.

Her mead colored eyes, filled with terror, haunted him as he let himself be recalled by his box, leaving her to this team of mortals tasked with getting her back.

_TBC_

_Please Review!_


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